John A. Burrows, Jr.

John "Jack" Burrows passed away Saturday, January 11, 2008 at his home. He was born on November 11,1927 and was married to his high school sweetheart, Tess McMaines Burrows for 53 wonderful years. He attended Denison High School where he was a letterman with the Yellow Jackets. He went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology in 1950 from the University of Houston.

Prior to college Mr. Burrows proudly served his country in World War II and had been stationed in France and Germany. He was a member of the U.S. Army - 1st Infantry Division. He was especially proud of his service during the Nuremberg War Trials where he served as a military guard. Mr. Burrows served a second round of service during the Korean War and returned home in 1953. Upon his return he entered into the oil and gas industry as a petroleum engineer. After working with the Phillips Petroleum company in southern Oklahoma, Mr. Burrows and his family moved to Salvadore, Brazil where he worked as an exploratory geologist in the Reconcovo and Amazon Basin for a couple of years. Moving back to the states in 1963, he then set up as a geological consulting company and developed many oil operations within Texas. The family moved to Gainesville in 1970 after Mrs. Burrows had accepted a teaching position at the North Central Texas College. Mr. Burrows was very active with the V.F.W. Post 1922 in Gainesville and served as the Commander from 2000 to 2004.

He is survived by his wife and daughter, Nikki Sue and husband, Tim Addison of Coppell, Texas and his sister, Donna Waddelow of Sherman. He had three grandchildren; Stacey Maxwell of Gainesville, Dylan and husband Shannon Gotcher of Denison, and Jordan Walker of Dallas. He had three great-grandchildren; Trace Maxwell, Brandi Anderson and James Anderson. He was preceded in death by his parents, Eunice and John A. Burrows and his sister, Janie Yeargan.