John F. (Jack) Burke passed away on June 8, 2009, at age 70.  Jack had been living in Monticello, MN at the the time of his passing.  Jack had retired from the Hennepin County Highway Department, where he had worked all of his adult life.  He is survived by his wife, Martha, sons Kevin Burke and Keith Hagen, sister Susan (Jon) Jacka, and brother Steven (Gwynne) Burke.

Interment: Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis.

At the time of our 50th Class Reunion, friends of Jack Burke tried to have a picture taken of Jack, to show us at the Reunion: But Jack would have none of that.  Instead, Jack's wish was that we remembered him as he once was, as he was in high school: The Hockey Player in 11th and 12th grades, and the football player in our senior year.  Jack Burke was one of the unrelenting "tough guys" in our school.  He gave no ground to any man, and feared no one.  He was all for having fun; for Jack, books meant very little.  School was for fun, not for "book-learnin'".  Jack Burke was a quiet man who enjoyed his cars, his friends and his family...and his good times.  He will be missed by many a classmate who admired him.

Classmates Steve Sjordahl and Jerry Thompson fondly recall the many memories of their personal time with Jack.  Following Jack's death they recalled being with Jack when they swung off a high tree-rope and dropped into the water off the second point at Cedar Lake.  They continue to wonder, even today, how any of them ever made it to the age of majority!  They fashioned a home-made gun (a "zip-gun", as they recalled) out of some plumbing pipe, with a crude wooden handle, and tried to fire a 22 shell out of what passed for a chamber.  And, of course, Jack's '54 Mercury was recalled being driven over to the State Hockey Tournament by classmate Sally Jones, who was dating Jack at the time.

Then there were those halcyon days after graduation when those classmates lucky enough to join Jack would ply the waters of Lake Minnetonka on the pontoon boat that Jack had crafted from scratch in his driveway.  Jack was remembered as being tremendously creative and capable with tools and there were many afternoons fishing [read: finishing a case of Grain Belt Beer] on the Lake, or using the boat to arrive in fashion at the Downbeat or Lakeview for an evening of dancing.  

There was that hard year, Sjordahl recalls, when Jack dropped out of school and went to work in North Minneapolis at White Industries, rebuilding carburetors.  God Bless Jack, for he returned to St. Louis Park High and finished his high school diploma with the rest of us.  He went on to play hockey at St. Cloud State University.  Jack was a hard-working employee for Hennepin County. After many a hot day on the job Jack was known to have occupied a special stool at Bunny's Bar in St. Louis Park.  What is unknown is whether or not the bar finally bequeathed that special stool to Jack when he no longer quenched his thirst there.  It will be a long time, if ever again, when any of us lay eyes on such an indefatigable man as Jack Burke.