Owen J. Burke (1915-1984)

Owen John Burke (1915-1984) aka Owney Burke; US Army World War II Veteran; and Draftsman for Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Inc. (b. January 16, 1915, 18 Kearney Avenue, Jersey City, Hudson County, New Jersey, USA - d. May 04, 1984, Colonia, Middlesex County, New Jersey, USA) Social Security Number 157101048 and Military Service Number 32921482.

Parents

• John Joseph Burke I (1868-1939)
• Josephine Smith (1875-1962)

Siblings

Bertha Burke (1902-1971) who married Stephen H. Prasky (1897-1965); William Burke II (1905-1996) who married Eleanor Catherine Outwater (1912-1978); Josephine (May) Veronica Burke (1907-1995) who married Thomas Patrick Norton I (1891-1968); John Joseph Burke II (1909-1986) aka John Stephen Burke who married Elizabeth Jones (1909-1958); Margaret Burke (1913-c1971) who married David Thomas Morgan (c1914-c1974).

World War II

He had one year of high school when he enlisted as a Private in the US Army in Newark, New Jersey on May 12, 1943. He listed his occupation as "draftsman".

Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Inc.

Owen worked as a draftsman for the Manhattan engineering company: Manning, Maxwell & Moore, Inc.

Obituary

Owen J. Burke, 69, of Colonia died yesterday in the East Orange Veterans Hospital. A Mass will be offered at 10 a.m. Monday in the St. John Vianney Church, Colonia, following the funeral from the Leon J. Gerity Funeral Home, Woodbridge. Mr. Burke was a dispatcher employed by the Halls Motor Transit Company of East Brunswick for 27 years before retiring six years ago. He was a member of the Teamsters Union, Local 641, Jersey City. Mr. Burke served in the Army during World War II and was a member of the American Legion Post 388 of Jersey City. Born in Jersey City, he lived in Union before moving to Colonia five years ago. Surviving are two brothers, William and John, and a sister Mrs. May V. Norton. (Source: Newark Star-Ledger on 5 May 1984)

Memories about Owen Burke

• John Edward Burke (1934- ) said: "Owen worked for a cab company, Junction Cab Company which had it's office at the corner of Cumminipaw Avenue and Grand Street. Owen later worked at a trucking company after the war, he had two purple hearts. He was in General Mark Clark's division in Italy. I remember seeing a letter that he wrote my father during the war. He also fought in Africa. He had many medals and two purple hearts. He was wounded badly. He was very soft spoken. Owen worked for Manning and Maxwell in the Lafayette section of Jersey City. He may have worked at Continental Can also before the war. He never married. He worked at Hall's Trucking in Jersey City for a while. Owen and my father owned a 1939 Buick that they bought together and later a 1949 Pontiac they also owned together." He also said "Owen was in WWII, he received two purple hearts. He is buried in Iselin, Woodbridge Township. He lived with my grandfather in Colonia for several years and he died of emphysema in the Veteran's Hospital in Jersey City. I visited him in the hospital, he was talking about the war in Italy and I could hear him all the way down the hall. He was never married and had no children. He may have had two purple hearts. He carried a machine gun on a tripod during WWII. He came home with a German and an Italian pistol. He took part in the invasion of Italy."