JOHN McDONALD "Donald" BURKE III
Identification on photo: Donald III, grandson of Lucile Cristcarson, composer, nephew of June Roselle
Photo taken: unknown location or photographer, circa 1955
Purchased: Dec 2018 at Pasadena Antique Center, Pasadena California
UPDATE - These two photos have been claimed by a close relative and are going home!
This photo was acquired in Pasadena during a Christmas visit to California.
This photo was acquired in Pasadena during a Christmas visit to California.
This charming child, labeled on the front of the snapshot only as "Donald III", was able to be identified based on the other information on the back of the photo. From that, we know that his grandmother was a composer named "Lucile Cristcarson", and his aunt was named "June Roselle".
I started first with the grandmother and was able to locate a brief newspaper obit on her. This is from the LA Times, 13-Oct-1978.
From this we learn that her name at one time was Burke and she was the mother of Miss June Roselle, Mrs. Betty Lou Dugan, Mrs. Marjorie Zittau, and Donald Burke.
Her daughter June Roselle was a stage actress and singer. Here is a newspaper insert on her from the Los Angeles Times 1952.
In searching for info on June Roselle, I came across a 2008 Plantation Florida obit on her brother Don Burke, whose real name was James McDonald Burke. He is survived by sisters Marjorie Zittau, Betty Dugan and June Roselle. Also two sons, one of which is Donald III. (I am not posting that here because many of the given survivors are obviously living.)
In researching more about Don Burke II, I also stumbled across the obit for his son "Donald III". He died at age 71 in Florida in December 2017, putting his birth year at 1946.
Incidentally, another photo found in the same booth was of a woman named MARJORIE KERRIGAN, who lived in La Jolla CA in 1935, when the photo was taken. I acquired that photo also and have since determined that this is Donald's aunt later known as Marjorie Zittau. She was born in 1919 and died in 2013. She lived most of her life in La Jolla and in later years served as vice-president of the Community Association of La Jolla.
That photo is my older Brother James McDonald Burke III (Don) and I have never seen it before. Don passed away in December, 2017 leaving a daughter and son. I believe it came from my Grandmother Carson whom I only met one time when we lived in Southern California. It's amazing it surfaced after all these years. Don had piano lessons and I had art lessons.
ReplyDeleteStephen - Thank you for leaving this note. May I send these photos to you? Please drop me an email with a good mailing address and I will get them on their way to you today. Kathleen(at)teamvalor(dot)com
DeleteI would love that. I sent the photo of Don to his kids in Florida also. Do you keep this link open? I think Marjorie's daughter-in-law Kathleen would be interested also. I can't believe someone takes the time, energy, and love to try and reunite photos with their remaining family. You are providing a wonderful service and be assured I appreciate it. I'm am the family patriarch now and have compiled an extensive yet incomplete family history with many photos. My Dad's family split up in the 50's, he was the only son and went with my grandpa, his 3 sisters went with Grandma Carson. In the present age it seems many family histories just fade away unless caring people carry the torch. I will send you some other photos of Don and I just for laughs with the email I send. Thank you again for the service you provide, I hope others have the same good fortune as myself.
ReplyDeleteYes, I always leave the posts up, even after the original photo has gone home. There is always the possibility that some other distant relative will stumble across it in a Google search, and they can use the digital image in their tree. I have also been able to connect cousins to each other this way.
DeleteLooking forward to your email.
Hello Stephen, Marjorie was my grandmother Betty Lou's sister. I've been trying to up load pictures of everyone to my family tree at https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/pt/RSVP.aspx?dat=MTQ0ODk2ODE7OzAxNjI0NmFhLTAwMDItMDAwMC0wMDAwLTAwMDAwMDAwMDAwMDsyMDIxMDUxODE4NDA1ODszMjc2OQ==&mac=0FSSMK4cqGWdPECP+uBPlw==
DeleteMarjorie was my grandmother Betty Lou's sister.
ReplyDeleteLucile Cristcarson was my great grandmother, I never met her because she passed away before I was born but June Roselle was living with my Aunt and Uncle Dave and Diane in Yucaipa California until she passed away recently.
ReplyDeleteLucile was my grandmother although I only met her once in Los Angeles in the early 1950's. My Grandfather was James M. Burke and Marjorie was his sister. I never met June but did meet Betty, Marjorie, and Dave and Diane at a family reunion in 1983-84. I lost contact with Marjorie after she sold her home in La Jolla. If I can fill in any blanks concerning my side of the family pleasse feel free to contact me: sburke45@comcast.net
ReplyDelete