John Arthur Burkus

John Arthur Burkus was born in St. Louis, Missouri on July 11th 1991. He was the first son of Michelle Burkus and Dr. J. Kenneth Burkus MD. The family came to Columbus, Georgia in August 1993. John attended St. Luke’s Pre-School and The Brookstone School. He participated in the Columbus Junior Symphony playing the violin. He participated in several youth soccer teams and tournaments. In Middle School at Brookstone he played football, basketball and soccer.

In 2006, John entered the McCallie School for boys in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During his four years at McCallie, he traveled to Montana and worked on fish and wildlife reclamation as a summer project. In later summers he completed a month long NOLS -National Outdoor Leadership School course. He spent a summer in Salamanca, Spain in a language immersive course. At McCallie, he played on the Varsity Football and Track Team. In his junior year, he was the starting running back and was recruited by several colleges. On the track team he was a sprinter and sought to master all of the events of the Decathlon.

John began his college experience at Furman University in South Carolina and transferred to Ole Miss after his freshman year. John graduated with Majors in Psychology and Mathematics in August 2016.

In 2018, John started his Post Graduate studies in the Architectural Engineering Department at Auburn University. He completed an internship program which gave him insights into how to apply his newly acquired skills. He saw the need for a greater understanding of data and its sophisticated analysis. He initiated an independent online study program to advance his understanding of complex data sets and issues for current industry applications. He was at the top of his class in his online course work and was set to graduate in early January 2023.

John loved life; he loved being actively engaged in all aspects of life. He loved people, making new friends, reaching out to old friends, and cherishing family. He loved the mountains; he loved the oceans, and he loved the mighty rivers that connected them. He hiked along the Pacific Coast Trail in California; he climbed in the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming; he scuba dived in the Caribbean; he paddle boarded in the Gulf of Mexico and he fished in the Atlantic off the coast of new England and along the banks of the rivers in Colorado.

John was active in the Columbus community. He worked at White Water Express serving as a certified guide. He gave fly fishing lessons on the Chattahoochee to emerging fisherman. He enjoyed backpacking, biking and traveling.

John is survived by his parents and his two brothers, Michael Edgar Burkus and Andrew Gregory Burkus.

In lieu in flowers please make a donation on behalf of John Arthur Burkus, to either, The McCallie School, https://www.mccallie.org/givetomccallie or to Save the Redwoods, https://secure.savetheredwoods.org/a/honor

A visitation for the family and friends of John will be held Friday, December 16, 2022 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary, 4071 Macon Rd, Columbus, Georgia 31907. A funeral service will be held on Saturday, December 17, 2022 at 2:00 PM at Striffler-Hamby Mortuary.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.shcolumbus.com for the Burkus family.