Who knows what might have been if not for a twist of fate? Raymond Burk's first Navy assignment was aboard the battleship Arizona in 1939. But the young sailor was soon recognized as a high achiever and given a rare appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy.
The Arizona was sunk Dec. 7, 1941, during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and became a memorial to the many sailors entombed inside.
Raymond Burk went on to a distinguished Navy career, rising to the rank of rear admiral. After he retired from the Navy, he made a mark in the civilian world as a San Diego port commissioner.
“It was a quirk of destiny,” said Rear Adm. Burk's daughter, Ann Korstad. “He lost a lot of very good friends.”
Rear Adm. Burk, who died Sunday of respiratory failure, was a longtime Coronado resident and served as a San Diego Unified Port District commissioner from 1985 to 1994 – including two stints as the commission chairman. He was 86.
“He loved it,” Korstad said of her father's role on the Port Commission. “He had an incredible time.”
She said she once asked him if he had any further political plans, and he responded, “I'm good doing this.”
And he was good at the job, port officials said.
During Rear Adm. Burk's tenure, he helped the port spearhead a number of major projects, including the construction of the San Diego Convention Center and its later expansion.
He also helped bring the America's Cup Challenge Race to San Diego in 1988 and 1995.
“The port family is going to miss Adm. Burk,” said Bruce Hollingsworth, the Port District president and chief executive officer. “He was a wonderful person, excellent commissioner and served the port, the community and his country well.”
After his service on the Port Commission, Rear Adm. Burk was instrumental in establishing the aircraft carrier Midway as a museum downtown.
“He was always a big fan of the ship,” said John “Mac” McLaughlin, the museum president. “He understood the long legacy between San Diego and aircraft carriers.”
Rear Adm. Burk was born Dec. 31, 1920, in Gilbert, Ariz. It was a tough time to grow up. According to a short autobiography that he gave to Jeanne Sapp, who interviewed him for a class project, Rear Adm. Burk was particularly affected by the Great Depression.
“Nobody had any money,” he said in the autobiography. “Bread was 10 cents a loaf; hamburger was 10 cents a pound. You could feed a family for 50 cents, if you had the 50 cents.”
The economic hardship was so great that even people with college degrees had problems finding decent work. Rear Adm. Burk saw military life as an option. He had participated in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps in high school and had two cousins in the Navy, who spoke highly of that branch.
He joined at age 17, needing his parents' permission. In August 1938, he was sent to San Diego for basic training.
On the Arizona, his job was to polish the brightwork and do “all the things that are necessary to keep a man-of-war the size of the Arizona in good condition.”
At that time, the Navy was allowed to make about 100 appointments from the fleet to the U.S. Naval Academy. Rear Adm. Burk got one, and graduated in 1943.
After a brief stint on a destroyer, he was back at Annapolis, studying naval engineering, a field in which he excelled.
He helped retrofit aircraft carriers, making them safer for aircraft, at Naval Shipyard Puget Sound. He also served as a naval attaché to West Germany, where he helped that nation rebuild its navy.
According to a San Diego Union-Tribune story published in 1986, Rear Adm. Burk considered his most important Navy job to be commander of the Boston Naval Shipyard. It was there that he was promoted to rear admiral.
“I probably had more fun – real, professional fun – as shipyard commander than I had at any other job,” he said.
Rear Adm. Burk retired in 1976 and settled in Coronado.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Ramona. Survivors include his daughter, Ann Korstad of Rancho Peñasquitos; and three grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 9 a.m. Jan. 19 aboard the USS Midway Museum. A private ceremony will be held at a later date. Rear Adm. Burke's ashes will be scattered at sea.
The family suggests donations to the Ray and Ramona Burk memorial fund at the USS Midway Museum, 910 N. Harbor Drive, San Diego, CA 92101.
Michael Stetz: (619) 293-1720; michael.stetz@uniontrib.com
