Age 34. 4a Iroquois Street, Roxbury (Boston), MA. Born on 4/10/1908, in Roxbury. Died 11/29/1942 (Sunday), of burns (death certificate). Yeoman, 2nd class, U.S. Coast Guard. Attached to the Enlisted Personnel Office, First Naval District, Boston. Witnessed the big afternoon B.C./Holy Cross collegiate football game at Fenway Park with his companion Miss Lauretta Watts, age 19, of Dorchester (Boston), MA (Born 1/26/1923. Died as Lauretta M. Chartier on 12/12/2003, age 80. Last residence Stoughton, MA), injured. Pair were reported in the 12/03/1942 Roxbury Citizen as present in a party of a dozen unnamed others (not stated if others attended the club or not). His body was identified at Chelsea Naval Hospital, Chelsea, MA, by his Navy "dog tag." The Boston Evening Globe, 11/30/1942: "A close friend of Mayor [Maurice] Tobin, Burke made a strong bid for the Boston School committee in 1939 and just failed of election." Also: "Tall and slender, and gifted with a pleasing voice, Burke made an excellent appearance on the political platform..." (WWII draft registration, October '40: 6' 1," 184 lbs.). Enlisted in the Coast Guard two months before the blaze. Was previously a billing clerk for John Hancock Life Insurance Co., of Boston (the same employer as victims Miss Shirley Anderson, age 19, and Miss Ella Whitmarsh, age 34, no known connection). Was single. Nickname "Stretch." Was a lifetime Boston resident. Made Hub news almost 16 years after his death: "The City Council approved Mayor [John] Hynes' request to name Iriquois [sic] and Calumet Streets, Roxbury, for Yeoman John J. Burke, who lost his life...during the 1942 Coconut [sic] Grove Fire" (Boston Traveler, 10/28/1958). One of six Coast Guard casualties of the disaster (also Chief Commissary Steward William Clift, age 55, Seaman Donald Delander, age 19, Electrician's Mate Jerome Estes, age 27, Lieut. Charles Fauci, Jr., age 21, and Chief Machinist's Mate Donald Lauer, age 27). Parents Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. and Ellen H. (Timilty) Burke, same address. Burial at St. Joseph's Cemetery, West Roxbury (Boston), MA. Middle name Joseph.

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