Skip to main content

John George Burkle Jr.

Thu, 03/09/2023 - 09:35

July 25, 1949 - Feb. 5, 2023

John George Burkle Jr. “was passionate about photography, music, fishing, airplanes, his Lionel trains, gardening, his granddaughters, and dogs,” his family wrote. Family was paramount to him, and his “sentimental values . . . helped shape the paths his children took.”

His youngest son, Justin Burkle, shared his passion for photography and is pursuing it as a career, while his tenure at TWA “exposed his eldest son, Jonathan, to aviation, which led to a career as a commercial airline pilot.”

Mr. Burkle, who was 73, died of heart failure on Feb. 5 at Stony Brook Southampton Hospital. He had been living on Woodbine Drive in Springs since 2015.

He was born on July 25, 1949, in Beverly, Mass., while his parents, John George Burkle and the former Claire Widmaier, were on vacation there. He grew up in Park Forest, Ill., and Dix Hills, and graduated from Bowling Green University in Ohio. Mr. Burkle served in the Army from 1972 to 1976.

On May 29, 1976, he married Gail Grimm, and the two settled in Levittown. He worked as a TWA air freight supervisor at Kennedy Airport. The couple lived in Levittown until 2006, then in Cave Creek, Ariz., for nine years.

His wife survives, as do his children, Jonathan Burkle of Denver and Justin Burkle of Montauk, and his grandchildren, Sage and Heidi. He also leaves three siblings, Carol Offutt of Maryland, Jan Peltz of Vermont, and Randee Burkle of Washington State.

Mr. Burkle was cremated. A celebration of his life will be held in the spring.

Villages

Countdown to the Three Mile Harbor Fireworks

The Clamshell Foundation's Great Bonac Fireworks Show over Three Mile Harbor is scheduled for Saturday at 9 p.m. with a rain date of Sunday. Because of the increase in boat traffic expected, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation has announced the closure of Three Mile Harbor to shellfishing starting at sunrise on Saturday. 

Jul 10, 2025

A ‘Good Trouble’ Protest Up Next

Weeks after the “No Kings” rally brought an estimated 1,200 people to East Hampton Town Hall, another demonstration to protest the Trump administration will happen next Thursday, with a nod to the late civil rights icon John Lewis.

Jul 10, 2025

Item of the Week: On the F.H. Warner Bakery

This photo from The Star archive shows the F.H. Warner Bakery, built in 1893 and sometimes known as the Montauk Bakery, when it stood next to the Methodist Church, near Hook Mill.

Jul 10, 2025

 

Your support for The East Hampton Star helps us deliver the news, arts, and community information you need. Whether you are an online subscriber, get the paper in the mail, delivered to your door in Manhattan, or are just passing through, every reader counts. We value you for being part of The Star family.

Your subscription to The Star does more than get you great arts, news, sports, and outdoors stories. It makes everything we do possible.