Burke

Msgr. John D. Burke

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Msgr. John D. Burke, who was pastor emeritus of Holy Child parish on Staten Island, died Sept. 23. He was 77. He was pastor of Holy Child for 12 years until his retirement in 2000. He then served as senior priest at St. Adalbert's, Staten Island. He previously was pastor of St. Clement-St. Michael, Staten Island, 1977-1988, and of Annunciation, Manhattan, 1970-1977. Auxiliary Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, vicar general, offered the Funeral Mass Sept. 27 at Holy Child Church. Msgr. Thomas P. Leonard, vicar of West Manhattan and pastor of Holy Trinity in Manhattan, delivered the homily. Msgr. Leonard remembered Msgr. Burke in an interview with CNY as a "joyful man" with a good sense of humor. "He had a great love for children and for the poor, and spent the first 33 years of his priesthood in the Spanish apostolate where he became Padre Juanito," he said. In May, Msgr. Burke interrupted his retirement to help his friend, Msgr. Vincent Bartley, pastor of St. Paul's on Staten Island, inaugurate a Spanish-language Mass there. Msgr. Burke also used his talent as a singer, and was recorded on a CD, "A Treasury of Sacred Music II," which featured the voices of priests in song. Born in Port Washington, he studied for the priesthood at St. Joseph's Seminary in Dunwoodie, and was ordained in 1956. He served as parochial vicar in Manhattan at Our Lady of Lourdes, 1956-1965, and St. Michael's, 1965-1967, and in the Bronx at St. Jerome's, 1967-1970. He was named a monsignor in 1990. Surviving are three brothers, Daniel, William and David. Burial was in St. Peter's Cemetery, Staten Island.

Msgr. John D. Burke