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John J. Burke, who served as principal of St. Thomas Aquinas School in the Bronx for 34 years, died March 20. He was 80.
Burke was principal at St. Thomas Aquinas, 1970-2004. Before being named principal, he was a guidance counselor at St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Luke’s, the Bronx, and St. Charles Borromeo, Harlem, 1969-1970. He was a teacher and vice principal at Ascension School, Manhattan, 1961-1967, and also taught in New Jersey.
Raised in Manhattan, Burke attended Our Lady Queen of Martyrs School, Manhattan, and Cardinal Hayes High School, the Bronx. He earned a bachelor’s degree from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., and a master’s from Fordham University, the Bronx.
His wife of 49 years, Elizabeth; five children, John, Kevin, Robert, Michael and Megan Bergmann; eight grandchildren; and his sister, Philomena Marusic, survive him.
A Funeral Mass was offered March 28 at St. Andrew’s Church in Westwood, N.J. His remains were cremated.
