Isaac "Jack" Jackson Burson Jr.'s Obituary
The family of Isaac “ Jack” Jackson Burson, Jr. shares the passing of Jack on Monday, October 28, 2024 at the age of 85. Visitation will be Friday, November 1, 2024, from 3:00-8:00 PM at Quirk and Son Funeral Home in Eunice with a rosary at 6:00 PM. Visitation will resume Saturday from 8:00-10:30 AM at Quirk and Son with a Mass of Christian Burial to follow at 11:00 AM at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Eunice with Father Hampton Davis Celebrant. Interment at Mt. Calvary Cemetery will follow.
Jack was preceded in death by his parents, Isaac Jackson Sr and Gussie (Martin) Burson; his wife, Myra (Bordelon) Burson; his brothers John Burson and Robert Burson, and his sisters Sarah (Burson) Clare and Ada Burson; by sisters in law Laura Bordelon and Deanna Burson, and brothers in law Mike Bordelon and Steve Bordelon.
He is survived by his sister Joan Burson; his wife Gwen Burson; his children Myra Burson, Benjamin Burson, and Isaac “Zac” Jackson Burson III and his wife Julie; by Gwen’s children Karen Johnson and Gary Bergeron and his partner Kent Mire; by his brothers in law Denis Clare, Doug Bordelon and wife Jackie, Ronald Martel, and Steve Martel, and his sisters in law Sandifer Burson, Joann Bordelon Callais, Carolyn Bordelon Hudson, and Cyndi Ducharme. He is also survived by his grandchildren Hannah Burson and Camille Burson; Leslee Picou, her husband Will, and their children Slade and Sydney; Kylie Doucet and her husband Trevor; Taylor Johnson, his wife Tiffany, and their children, Valerie, Caroline, Natalie, and Wes. He was also a parrain to many nieces and nephews and to the children of dear friends.
Jack was a patriotic citizen, a southern gentleman, a bare-knuckle tireless advocate, a scholar of law and government. Jack Burson was also a highly skilled litigator, politician, orator, general all-around public speaker and a superior eulogist. (Actually, it would have helped if he had written, edited and read this obituary beforehand. He provided way too much material for the space reserved here.) He believed that families were stronger when they were supported by sound civic institutions, and he did his part to make that happen in Louisiana and especially in his own town and neighborhood. He was, as Teddy Roosevelt described, “the man in the arena,” putting himself frequently on the ballot, often emerging beaten and bloodied, but he nonetheless spent a lifetime working toward consensus and community, toward a “more perfect union” even if only in his hometown or in the local schools. He was a small d Democrat as well as capital D Democrat, and he participated vigorously in local, state, and national politics. A small c conservative with a populist streak, he admired the vision of Kennedy, the political acumen of Reagan, and the heart of Jimmy Carter. He greatly respected the wisdom of the founders and he was a most exceptional reader and scholar of history and political science and economics. He loved his alma maters, UL Lafayette (B.A. degree in Political Science), Georgetown University Graduate School, Washington, D.C. (Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in American Government); and Tulane University Law School class of 1965. However, the man kept learning every day of his life. He taught an Intro to Government course for poor freshmen at LSUE, but he had a graduate level reading list. He read a book and four magazines or journals a day, and had a home library that could have rivaled some public libraries in depth and breadth.
The arc of history is long, but it bends toward justice–Martin Luther King. Jack was a man of words and actions, and exercised both to make a difference as a citizen and a scholar. At the Tulane Law Review he wrote about fair congressional representation during the civil rights era. He helped to write the Louisiana Constitution in 1973, and he later chaired the commission that created the home rule charter for St. Landry Parish government, and before that he wrote a treatise for LSU Law about how local governments should be funded and supported responsibly. He practiced law in Eunice and surrounding areas for nearly 55 years. Meeting the needs of his clients led him to learn many different types of law, and he excelled as a litigator in district and federal courts. He practiced law with many esteemed lawyers in the region, beginning with Judge Nilas Young, and in the latter part of his career, he was glad to have been joined by his son Benjamin. He took the public service oath many times vowing to “support the constitution and laws of the United States and the constitution and laws of this State; and to faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me , and according to the best of my ability and understanding. So help me God.” He lived up to that promise.
As a young husband, father, and professional, he served on the St. Landry Parish school board during challenging times as the spirit and laws of the Civil Rights Era were being implemented. He courageously stepped into that arena and worked for equal justice and to provide a good public education for all citizens and promoted the expansion of access to technical education throughout the district. As an assistant DA for St. Landry Parish for 26 years, he was a fair but effective criminal prosecutor and served as legal counsel for the school board and the St. Landry Parish Police Jury. Later, he served as legal counsel to school districts across the state and local fire districts. In the last 24 years of his public service, he served the people of Eunice as the Alderman at Large. He was the kind of guy who relished explaining why we needed to support a particular millage in order to build a ballpark or a walking park, but he also liked the nuts and bolts of working to keep roads paved or the sewage systems operating. He called them “signs of a functioning civilization.”
Jack was born on February 12, 1939 in New Iberia, Louisiana. The eldest of six children, no man respected his ancestors and parents more than Jack. He even designed his home to have a hall including our near relations but also a few grim-faced sepia toned ancestors staring down at his family, ensuring his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren knew a fulsome history of each line in his lineage. Each one had a story that touched on America’s story. From the English, George Burson came over with Penn’s colony as Quakers but were booted out then reinstated and then became Baptists. (Probably too argumentative for the Quakers.) His Martin ancestors were among the Acadians who settled in Louisiana after the Grand Derangement and embraced their Catholic faith. His stories about his namesake dad and his grandfather are legion and legendary, and the lessons of promoting hard work, fairness, integrity, courage, taking responsibility and sticking up for those less fortunate were all hallmarks of Jack’s character. After his father died, Jack and his siblings rallied around their mother, visiting her every Sunday night to debrief about sporting events they had seen that day. Deconstructing the frustrating Saints performance was a frequent topic, but sportstalk was their primary love language as long as anyone could remember.
Jack loved his wife Myra, and she molded him into a kinder, gentler, human being before her passing. He shared with his children his love for conservation, the outdoors, the arts, literature, science, and history. When he married Gwen, he gained a new set of stepchildren, grandchildren, and eventually great grandchildren, and he greatly enjoyed watching all of his grandchildren grow and achieve in academics and athletics and the arts. Like his favorite author William Faulkner, he loved his “little postage stamp of native soil,” and like him he believed that man “is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance.”
Jack believed in community as an institution, and he loved community ties. Jack lived most of his life in Acadiana, especially the tri-parish area of Acadia, Evangeline, and St. Landry. He lived a life of idealism tempered with an appreciation for the strengths and weaknesses of human nature, including his own. He was surrounded by true friends from a lifetime and newer friends as he continued to engage in public life, from old neighbors and classmates to the people of the city he served, to the baristas at Cafe Mosaic, who would begin making his “usual” the moment he walked in the door. Those loose ties in the post office, the bank, cafes, courthouses and barber shops were so important to him. He and Myra moved into the Highland Heights neighborhood on the eastern edge of Eunice in 1967 and never left. He walked with his wife Myra and later his wife Gwen nearly every day to recharge, and he went door to door during election season, talking with neighbors about candidates and propositions that supported the institutions he valued.
“Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point, which means at the point of highest reality.”_CS Lewis. His faith, especially as he lived it through life at St. Anthony’s and St. Edmund’s, blessed and sustained Jack and his family during good and difficult times. He and his wife Myra were among the first lay Eucharistic ministers, and he was a lector for many decades and past Grand Knight of Knights of Columbus. His first pastor at St. Augustine in Basile, Father Speyrer, was also a lifelong mentor for him and presided at many key life events for Jack and his family, including at funerals and presiding at Jack and Gwen’s marriage. In the last three years, he drew on that deep well of grace, and it carried him through as he gradually and inexorably lost all of the physical tools he had used to make his way in the world. He was left with a mind and heart still filled with Faith, Hope, and Love.
Jack and Myra traveled across the US and Canada, and he and Gwen traveled the US and internationally.. No matter where they went, Jack was always able to appreciate not just the art, food, and the scenery, but in the governmental structures and legal systems of the countries and cities he had studied, immersing himself in the history and literature of that place.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they shall never sit.” — Greek Proverb. Dad grew much in his lifetime. Fifty years ago he became a principal in the Basile State Bank in his hometown, and thirty years ago he and his friends opened the branch in Eunice. Next month a new bank in Eunice will open. He well understood how community banks are built on the faith and trust of one’s fellow man.
Jack was a gardener and gentleman rancher who abided by the knowledge of folks from The LSU Ag Center as well as from the hard won folk knowledge passed down by his dad, grandfather and father in law. He planted oaks with his best friend Rodney, and with his children, he created an orchard of fruit trees and berry bushes, at least 12 different species. He sometimes grew things that weren't supposed to even grow in Southwest Louisiana, and he grew a bountiful harvest of fruits and vegetables for decades. With the support of long time friends Coonie and Norbert, he raised Charlais cattle on pastures in Tepetate and in Basile, lands close to his heart.
Jack prized athletics at every level. The self-discipline, courage, and teamwork on display along with the optimism that came with each new sport and season created the perfect metaphor for him. His high school teammates and opponents became lifelong friends and clients and were the source for many of his most animated stories. He corresponded with his childhood heroes on the Brooklyn Dodgers, and he rejoiced when they finally beat the hated Yankees in 1955. He could recount every moment from his first LSU game in Tiger Stadium and the sheer joy of his experience with Gwen watching the Saints win a Super Bowl as well as 50 years of less joyous Saints games shared with his family including his brothers and sisters. His memories of his Basile High days in football, basketball, track, and baseball were so vivid. He revered Basile Coach Hanson as a second father. A founding member of the first Basile High wrestling team, he was maybe proudest of having been a part of that long legacy of success that continues today. He coached youth sports with his brother John and led high school booster clubs for years.
We offer thanks to the medical staff at Dr Randy Miller’s office, Eunice Community Health, Acadian Medical Center, and Hope Hospice for their care. Special thanks are due Giselle Rasmussen, Michelle George, and Marla Martel for being loving nurses for a strong willed patient. We thank members of the care team during his long illness, especially Tina Andrus and Brandon Boudreaux, Sam and Shirley Caesar, Sandra Robinson, Sue Lopez, Ernecia and Charlene Ledet, Katina Thibodeaux, and Kristy Poullard. All shared incredible kindness with him.
Pall bearers are Rod Bellon, Ron Bordelon, Matt Bordelon, Robert Burson, Andrew Burson, Bill Johnson, Scott Fontenot. Gift bearers are Taylor and Tiffany Johnson and their children.
The family requests that memorials be made to the Eunice Library or Evangeline Parish Public Library, the LSUE Foundation, Basile Wrestling, St. Edmund School, or St Anthony of Padua Catholic Church.
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