John’s Obituary
John Bradford Burke May 3, 1950 to January 29, 2021
John left this plain, believing he would see his dear daughter Emma again; this was a wonderful thought to leave with. Emma died tragically at the age of 23 while attending Carleton University. Losing his only daughter changed John’s life forever, as he was shattered that her life ended while she was excelling with a promising future.
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At age 19 John had left Halifax with a friend when they joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He learned to be a chef, and forever after cooking was one of his loves. However before that, as a boy at Saint Mary’s Boys School, he took up music and became a talented and admired drummer. He never stopped and was active either in groups or as a studio player, or simply played at home and with friends. Niece April’s husband, Randy, described John as being happiest when sitting behind a drum set!
After the military, John honed his lifelong habit of living with the attitude of “If you are going to do something, do it well.” John liked to be in charge and work on his own. This spurred him on to get more education, starting in Edmonton and then in Peterborough ON.
He was attracted to photography and committed to both on-the-job and formal training at Sir Sandford Fleming College, where he later taught. Along with his musical abilities, he discovered more artistic talent in this new area…the ability to design, arrange, capture…and SEE; John literally “didn’t miss a thing” He took his strong work ethic and desire to be in control of his life, and combined this ambitious talent in both the arts and business, to create his commercial photography career. Nephew Scott described John as having fierce determination. He could accomplish anything he set his mind to…a rare and unique person.
On his perfectionism: he never met a carpet that didn’t need smoothing, glasses that could be clearer and knives that must be sharpened. The list goes on.
As to the two-year fight with cancer, he again did it his way. Through radiation, chemotherapy, trips to Emergency, experimenting with what medicines worked or didn’t work, he took the lead and never gave up to the very end. His partner Bettina said John believed in working through his fears. He didn’t deny fear. He was lucid until the very end.
We are heartsick at what John went through and also proud of his bravery and his very unique way of tackling the challenges — turning some of them into daily routines that he wanted to do on his own as long as he could. For a while John involved Bettina and his sister Sandra in a Saturday music fest at Bernie’s and Eldon’s. Because of cancer surgery, John lost his ability to speak fully and therefore sing harmony while drumming. John’s love of cooking and eating was also compromised, by having to finely puree all the foods he loved which then went through a gastric feeding tube.
Nevertheless, this past summer Bettina planned 2-3 day COVIDsafe vacations to add variety to life. Invention, creativity, one-day-at-a-time, soldier on…that was John’s way to Be.
One final piece that may complete this picture: Passion. We know that often people with this passion, almost an all or nothing mindset, can result in the opposite when things don’t go exactly right. Yes! John would hate to be painted as a saint and he wasn’t. This passion, when turned upside-down, was something to behold. When you learned it was pure emotion and short-lived, you settled into it and waited until you saw that little boy’s face and John’s youthful sense of humour return. What could you do but accept? (Or let him know, when you’re his partner, that you’re escaping to the gym).
VON and early palliative care were very, very helpful with professionals to whom we are immensely grateful.
To John: Always an early adaptor, and a tech enthusiast, you never seemed or looked your true age.
Love and goodbye from Bettina, Sandra (Halifax), Pauline, April, Randy, Frankie (Orangeville, ON.) and Scott and Mary (Denver, CO). You are in our hearts forever and we will never forget you. You also leave behind caring relatives and many friends and colleagues from over the years
In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to assist in the return of live music to:
Atlantic Federation of Musicians (professional union)
16 Belcomes Drive, Halifax NS B3N 1H9
(902) 479-3200 admin@cfm571.ca
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of John Bradford Burke May 3 1950 January 29 2021..
Death notice for the town of: Dartmouth, Province: Nova Scotia