James Gerdine Burke, fondly known as Jim, was born in Columbia, South Carolina on August 17, 1945.  He was the beloved first child of James Cobb Burke and Josephine Griffin Burke who were both journalists with Southern roots.  Jimmy's grandfather, on his father's side, was William Blount Burke, a Methodist Missionary to China for over 50 years.  Jimmy's father, James Cobb Burke was a prolific writer and photographer for LIFE Magazine was born in Shanghai, China.

Jimmy began to follow the traveling tradition of his antecedents at a young age.  Before he could walk, he joined his proud parents on a freighter bound for China.  He would spend his youth mostly in Asia and came to love and admire diverse cultures as well as internationally famous geographic locales. His primary and secondary school took place in India, Greece and Hong Kong.

In addition to his formal education, he was educated in the great international arena of life by living in great world cultures and being surrounded by diverse ways, sights and sounds.  He lived on houseboats in Kashmir and played golf in Gulmarg, possibly the highest golf course on Earth at the time.  He hitchhiked across India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran and Lebanon.

In 1963, Jimmy returned to the United States to attend college at the University of South Carolina where he was a member of the Lamba Phi Alpha Fraternity.  After attaining his Bachelor of Arts in 1967 he joined the Army and served in Vietnam.  After his honorable discharge with recognition for his service, he took up the mantle of writing and photography from his father and returned to Hong Kong to start his career as a journalist for Asia Magazine and eventually found his way into U.S. Government Service where he retired as a newsletter editor for the Internal Revenue Service.

Throughout his life continued to write and publish articles about his great love - travel.  He also wrote a mystery novel called  Death in Darjeeling - a novel of Asian Intrigue.  The book in may ways is an autobriography and will be published posthumously. 

Jimmy was also an avid and talented sportsman.  His travel took him to international tennis tournements in Australia, Paris and Montreal.  He regularly attended baseball games in Baltimore and Washington D.C.  One of his fondest memories, as a child, was meeting the great Willie Mays and getting a baseball autographed.  A photograph and story of this event appeared in the local press and the clipping was framed and enshrined on his wall.

After a long and colorful, happy life, Jimmy made his final journey to join his ancestors on August 15, 2016.  He is survived by his close family including his loving sisters, Rosemary Burke and Jean Crawford as well as his brother-in-law, Mark Crawford.  He will always be Uncle Jimmy to his nephew, Nizar Sedki and neices, Amira Sedki Mosca and Emily Crawford as well as his nephew-in-law Eric Mosca. He is also Great Uncle to Naima and Sana Sedki Mosca.   He is Cousin Jimmy to his first cousins Florence Burke and Susan Doar who also shared his path.

Jimmy is a much loved and fondly remembered family icon who will continue to inhabit our minds and hearts.  We will tell his story for as long as breathe remains.