Obituary of John Burris

John Jay Burris, was a member of the Harvard Class of 1955 and for his 25th reunion he wrote the following: "After graduation I proceeded with great confidence and sureness of my future place in this world as a self-satisfied Boston orthodontist. On September 3, 1955, I married Dorothy Duncan of Cleveland, Ohio, and entered Columbia Dental School a week later. Six weeks after that I became seriously ill and spent three months in bed. While waiting to re-enter dental school the next fall, I worked for Salomon Bros. on Wall Street. The world of finance was so fascinating that in the fall of 1956 I entered the Wharton Graduate School of Business. In 1958 I moved to Jacksonville, Florida. After a brief stay with a local bank, I entered the brokerage business as an analyst. Three years later I tried brokerage sales and enjoyed it immensely, and have been in it ever since. My major interests are my wife and children, and my job. The past twenty-five years have been good to me. I have been lucky to have enjoyed all the benefits of a mundane life: a good wife and children and modest success in my career. I have also enjoyed the benefits from an education from a school such as Harvard and the joy and peace of mind received from a happy marriage. The sad and scary part is that these essentials to my own evaluation of the past twenty-five years are and were greatly beyond my control. "I have been a very lucky person."

Mr. Burris leaves behind a wife and their three children: Earle (Eva), Janine Peeples (Bill), and Andrew. He also leaves three grandchildren: Ben Peeples and Jonathan and Daniel Burris.

The family asks that, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be made to Mayo Clinic Florida. Memorials can be made online or mailed to Mayo Clinic, Department of Development, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, Minnesota 55905.

A gathering of remembrance will be held at Arlington Park Funeral Home, 6920 Lone Star Road, Jacksonville, FL 32211 on Monday, September 19, 2011 from 2:00-3:00PM.