Canadian Railroads > Passing of John H. Burdakin

The following was from a Retired GTW/CN Clerk, Ann Brookes Noble, about Mr. John H. Burdakin. Ann is kind of the Moderator of a Facebook Page for current and former employees of GTW, CN, DT&I, D&TSL Railroads.

Passing of John H. Burdakin

Please bear with me, this is a long one.

It is with deepest regrets that I have to inform you of the passing of a wonderful manager and past president of GTW, Mr. John H. Burdakin. He passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sept. 11, 2014. He most recently was recuperating from a fall where he had two fractures in his lower tibia/shin bone and in his ankle. John was 92 years of age. Thankfully he got to see the finished book that he, Denny Gilstad, Mary Sharp and various other people contributed to.

The family is planning a cremation, with a memorial service at some time in the future, at a place still to be determined, but it won't be immediately.

Dave and Kim Burdakin are to be in Cedar Rapids Friday to make arrangements. Things may change.

In the meantime, I took the liberty with Denny’s permission to add some info from John’s timeline in his upcoming book. A lot of us did not know the man behind the title (President.) When there is more info on the book, I will gladly forward to all. I am very glad that John was able to make the luncheon at Sign of the Beefcarver September 5, 2013 along with his son.

John appreciated the get well and birthday cards he received in August. He heard from people he couldn't remember, but who really remembered him -- how he took the time, as a railroad president, to thank them for something they'd done. Fifty years later, and they still remember. It just reinforced everything we've been saying and writing about the genuineness of the man.

Below is a somewhat condensed timeline from the book.

August 11, 1922 - Born in Milton, Massachusetts.
September 1940 - Began classes at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.
April 1943 - Called to service in U.S. Army; basic and Officer Candidate School training at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Summer 1944 - Commissioned as second lieutenant, assigned to Corps of Engineers, training soldiers in surveying, basic training, and heavy equipment.
October 1946 - Discharged as first lieutenant from U.S. Army, starts senior year at MIT.
June 1947 - Graduated from MIT with degree in Civil Engineering.
Summer 1948 - First supervisory job, Assistant Supervisor Track, branch line, Jamesburg, New Jersey.
October 2, 1948 - Marries Jean Moulton at her parents’ home in Milton, Massachusetts.
1951 - Track Supervisor, branch line, Camden, New Jersey.
July 24, 1952 - Son John Jr. born in Camden, New Jersey.
March 10, 1955 - Son David born in Havre de Grace, Maryland.
1955 - Assistant District Engineer, Philadelphia.
March 12, 1959 - Son Dan born in Louisville, Kentucky.
1960-61 - Took leave of absence to run Panama Canal Zone Railroad for 15 months.
1968 - Regional Manager, Penn Central Lakes Region, Cleveland.
January 1970 - Vice President and General Manager, Penn Central Northern Region, Detroit.
July 1971 - Vice President-Operations, Grand Trunk Railroad, Detroit.
1974 - President, Grand Trunk Railroad, with presidencies of Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railroad, Central Vermont Railroad, and Grand Trunk Corporation added in 1975.
1986 - Vice Chairman, Grand Trunk Corporation; Grand Trunk board member.
1987 - Retires; remains in Michigan, with winters in Naples, Florida.
2010 - John and Jean Burdakin move from Michigan to Colorado.
March 30, 2012 - Jean Burdakin dies of pancreatic cancer.
October 2013 - John Burdakin moves to Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

The attached photograph was from a Retiree Luncheon get-together that Mr. Burdakin attended on September 5, 2013. He was 91 at the time.

Ron

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That is sad, indeed. I very much admired Mr. Burdakin, and he is the reason that I had the opportunity to work for Grand Trunk Western at the beginning of my career.

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