David R. Burrows
Posted Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 4:27 PM from 68.8.108.190
 

I received this announcement this morning from the Annapolis class of 1970 website.  Dave and I left for the Academy in June 1966, following a very nice going away party at Kay Knudsen's house.  I saw him often that first year, and a little less the next three years.  (He was in the same company as Oliver North -- ever hear of him?)  Dave was majoring in electrical engineering, so he was kind of pale and squinted in the sunlight.  I was not so academically inclined (a surprise to none of you) majoring in english literature and I had a pretty good tan, so our paths did not cross much.  As you can see from the bio, he went on to a master's degree and nuclear power school.  The ships he refers to are an attack submarine and ballistic missile submarine; the "Admiral" is Admiral Rickover.  Argonne National lab has several reactors that test the designs for sub's and aircraft carriers.

Most of you know Dave married Joan Jacobs in 1971, of whom he speaks in his bio, submitted for our 40th reunion last September.  Reading it now, Dave's is unintentionally wistful.

Dave Oberholtzer

David Reid Burrows, USNA '70 05/17/2011 -in-law, Judith and Daniel Madden, Waunakee, Wisconsin.

Mr. David Reid Burrows, age 63, of Dahlonega, GA, died May 17, 2011.

Mr. Burrows was the son of the late Reid H. Burrows and Ruth Moore Burrows. Mr. Burrows had lived in Dahlonega for the past six years. He was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland. He had a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan. He was a member of St. Luke's Catholic Church in Dahlonega, GA. He volunteered at the Community Helping Place where he was twice named volunteer of the year. He is survived by his wife, Joan Burrows; daughter, Rebecca; grandson, Dalton; sister and brother

Funeral Mass is scheduled for 9 AM Thursday May 19, 2011 at St. Luke's Catholic Church in Dahlonega, GA. Father Neal Dhabliwala will officiate. Interment will be held at The United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Banister Funeral Home of Dahlonega is in charge of arrangements

Dave's Input to our 40

Dave Burrows

"It'll be good practice for the SAT." Those words of wisdom from my parents, regarding a competitive exam for service academy appointments, will haunt me to the end of my days. It was a slippery-slide from there to throwing my white cap in the air!

I was one of the lucky ones who spent their first year after graduation with long hair and sandals - IGEP at Michigan State. That was all the slack The Admiral chose to give me, so it was off to nuclear things like the Pargo (SSN-650), the Patrick Henry (SSBN-599) and a stint as TO at the S1W prototype. I thought I could do better things in the Navy, but The Admiral disagreed - he wasn't about to let one of his "baby nukes" wander off to become an EDO at such an early age. I showed him, though. I resigned and spent the next ten years melting fuel rods (on purpose!) with Argonne National Lab in Idaho.

Ms. Joan and I were wed in April of '71, and our oldest, Becky, came along in '72. (She finished up grad school in '95 and is very happily married.) Daughter Robin was born in 1974, but she passed away eighteen years later. That might have been the end of the world for us, but Robin left us with a son to raise as our own. Dalton will graduate from high school this year.

We left Idaho for warmer climates in 1987. Some work at Argonne on application of nuclear QA standards to research and software development resulted in a move to South Carolina, to the "bomb plant's" Savannah River Laboratory, in Aiken. We didn't need to move for my next job - six wonderful years with The University of Georgia, at the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory. ('Bass fishing on the cooling reservoirs, anyone?) (Somebody had to do it.) And finally, academia. The last nine years have found me teaching as adjunct faculty - physics and astronomy - at small colleges in the "mountains" of North Georgia. My present (and hopefully final) position is with new little Southern Catholic College. 'Too much fun, and I have absolutely no plans to retire! (We graduated our first class of 44 last year.)

Joan, on the other hand, probably has plans for me. She will retire as a teacher this year. And that wonderful lady has had almost 40 years to prepare my "honey do" list