In Memoriam John “Jock” Burbank Jr. ’56 July 10, 2020
We will be sharing information on a scholarship fund in honor of Jock Burbank ’56. For more information, please contact Susie Danziger (sdanziger@harveyschool.org)
52 HAR VEY MAGAZINE // winter 2021
John “Jock” Howard Burbank Jr. was born March 3, 1942, in Providence, Rhode Island, and died at his home in Healdsburg, California, on July 10, 2020. He was predeceased by his parents, Dr. and Mrs. John H. Burbank (Mimi), and is survived by his two younger brothers, Michael Burbank of Waldoboro, Maine, and Stephen B. Burbank (Ellen) of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Jock grew up in Bedford Village, New York, and attended The Harvey School (’56) in Hawthorne, New York, now in Katonah, and Phillips Exeter Academy (’60) in Exeter, New Hampshire. After a semester at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, he joined the Army, learning Russian at the Presidio of Monterey in Monterey, California, and later translating intercepted Russian messages in the I.G. Farben Building in Frankfort am Main, Germany. Upon his honorable discharge in 1964, Jock began his teaching career at Harvey full-time while attending Columbia University, School of General Studies (’68, Phi Beta Kappa), in New York, at night. After moving to New Haven, he received his master’s degree in Slavic languages and literature from Yale (’70), where he also became fluent in Czech. Jock was a lauded scholar, a passionate linguist, and a beloved educator, teaching and serving in several distinguished administrative positions — from department head and assistant headmaster at The Harvey School to headmaster at Shady Side Academy Middle School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and finally at Wyoming Seminary Lower School in Forty Fort, Pennsylvania. Jock relished good literature, especially Russian and Czech, and delighted in linguistically based humor — in puns, word games, and literal translations of foreign expressions and expletives. Among other articles and pieces that he had translated and written about from Czech and Russian, at the time of his death he had been writing a book for teachers about how to teach Dostoevsky to students. Live music, squash, ice hockey, football, and bocce were particular favorites of his, along with both good French and Italian food. But most of all Jock cherished his four children, John H. Burbank III of San Francisco and Healdsburg, California, Elizabeth G. Burbank of New Haven, Connecticut, Michael G. Burbank (Chisti) of Woodstock, New York, and David G. Burbank of Healdsburg. He is also survived by his adored grandsons, Maxmillian Burbank and Samuel Burbank, Gray Burbank, nephew Peter Burbank, step-grandson Jonah Cohen, and his two former wives, Suzanne G. Kelley and Michelle G. Burbank, both of whom remained close friends with Jock until his death. A warm commemoration of Jock’s life will take place at a future time.
