John William Burke (Jack), born April 10, 1936, passed away peacefully Friday, December 13, 2024, at Englewood Hospital, due to complications from cancer treatment. He was surrounded by his three devoted children, with Irish music playing in the background, as he crossed over.
Born and raised in Staten Island, NY, Jack was a proud graduate of St. Peter’s College (now St. Peter’s University) in Jersey City, NJ.
For many years, Jack was an executive on Wall Street at Hornblower & Weeks, Paine Webber, and the Public Securities Association (PSA) while raising his then young family in Weehawken, NJ with his wife, Claire.
After many years working in his beloved Manhattan, Jack took on new professional opportunities in Miami and Palm Beach, Florida where he served in management at two major law firms including Alley, Maass, Rogers & Lindsey, L.L.P. Jack then returned home to New Jersey full-time upon the births of his three beloved grandchildren, Jack and Maya Burke and Fatima Sadouki. He called Riviera Towers in West New York, NJ home for almost 15 years, spending his retirement years working as a film and television extra as well as a 10-year volunteer at the main branch of The New York Public Library.
Jack was a dual citizen of the United States and Ireland. Intellectually curious and an avid reader, he loved all things tennis, and could solve the New York Times crossword before most people had their coffee in the mornings.
Jack loved the beach and was the unofficial Mayor the Sea Girt boardwalk. He was a Bryant Park devotee, could recite the works of W.B. Yeats upon request, and was a proud New Yorker to his core. Jack was predeceased by his former wife and best friend, Claire M. Burke, his parents, Alice and John Burke, and two of his sisters, Marie Murphy and Alice Schneider. In addition to his three cherished children – Mariclaire Burke (Weehawken, NJ), John Burke (Montclair, NJ), and Kathleen Burke (Austin, TX), and their adored spouses Aboubaker Sadouki, Jennifer Burke, and Bernard Grzelak, his three beloved grandchildren, and the family pups Harper, Cash, Willow (Burke-Grzelak) & Bo (Burke).
Jack is survived by his sister, Kathleen Affinito, and brother, Lawrence Burke, sister-in-law Alberta Vickery (Florida), along with numerous nieces and nephews scattered throughout the country.
Jack also leaves behind countless dear friends and fans of his “character” level exploits and anecdotes.
In lieu of flowers, the family is humbly directing any contributions in Jack’s memory to The New York Public Library or in support of the St. Francis Breadline. As a tribute to Jack’s impeccable sartorial bearing, as well as a nod to his Irish heritage, the Burke family respectfully requests that
Mass attendees wear something green – a scarf, a pin, a tie, a sweater, etc. A private “Irish wake” will be held as a final tribute to Jack – a man who truly embodied what it meant to live life in full measure.
The Burke family will honor Jack with a Memorial Mass at St. Joseph of the Palisades Roman Catholic Church in West New York, NJ at 11 am on January 4th, 2025 with a private interment of his ashes at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City, NJ at a later date.