In Memoriam
Published by Legacy Remembers, Jul. 26, 2023.
Jack Edward Burchfield, 88, of Clemson, SC, and formerly of St. Joseph, MI and Seymour, TN, passed away on July 15, 2023. He was born in St. Joseph, MI, the son of Gerald and Hildred (Hawks) Burchfield, and grew up in the house that his grandfather built in 1898.
He was a graduate of the University of Michigan receiving a B.S. and M.S. in Electrical Engineering. Jack attended the University of Michigan funded in full with a scholarship from the Whirlpool Foundation. He was one of its first two scholarship recipients. His original plan was to attend the University of Michigan for two years and then transfer to MIT. Early in his freshman year, he met a young lady at a freshmen dance. Marian Allerton Blakeslee became the love of his life; the transfer to MIT never occurred. They were married for 62 years.
While at the University of Michigan, Jack lettered as a member of the gymnastics team with a specialty in trampoline and tumbling. Even in his mid-80s, his preferred way of tying his shoes was to swing his leg up on the kitchen island. He was also a cheerleader and was one of the founders of its alumni cheerleading group. Jack was a member of the Vulcans, a University of Michigan honor society for engineers, as well as Tau Beta Pi, the engineering equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa. He was also a member of the Theta Xi fraternity.
Jack began his career with Electro-Voice in Buchanan as an acoustical engineer. In the late 1960s he, along with Albert Kahn and Tom Mitchell, founded Ten-Tec, a manufacturer of amateur radio equipment in Sevierville. Jack designed the initial line of products and most of the radio equipment that followed. His radios were on display at the Smithsonian Museum of American History for many years. He was an amateur radio enthusiast and was inducted into the Amateur Radio Hall of Fame in 2004. Jack had a quick wit and loved to make people smile. Even when dementia had robbed him of his ability to speak, he would find a way to coax a laugh or a smile out of people. You could see the twinkle in his eye, and his smile would form.
He is survived by his daughters, Beth (Gary) Kern and Cathy (Bert) Wall as well as his son, Ed (Shelley) Burchfield. Also surviving are seven grandchildren: Emily, Holly, Josh, Adam, Sam, David and Alex, and six great-grandchildren. Services will be at Starks Menchinger Funeral Chapel in St. Joseph, MI, on July 31 at 11 am with visitation at 10:30 am. Donations in lieu of flowers may be made to the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Michigan.