Honorable Judge John Robert Burgess, Sr.

Affectionately known as “The Judge,” the Honorable John Robert Burgess Sr., a cherished resident of Livingston Parish, passed away peacefully at the age of 77 on the evening of Tuesday, July 27, 2021, at his home in Carter Plantation on the original 18th hole.

Born on December 10, 1943, in Macon, Georgia, John was the only son of Charles Donald Burgess and Harryotte Fick Burgess. John had an intellect and ingenuity very similar to that of his father Charles, who is credited with inventing and holds the patent for carpet tape, as well as the associated glue and iron applicator that revolutionized the carpet industry worldwide.

Although, his father and uncles were all Georgia Tech alumni, John set his sights on becoming a Louisiana State University Tiger,where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Organ Performance and was known for his keen ability to play the most difficult organ pieces ever written.  Along with participating in a rigorous musical degree program with a minor in Business Law and Industrial Psychology, John found time to serve as a charter member and two-time vice president of the Epsilon Kappa Chapter of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity at LSU. Together, with his future brothers-in-law, the late Thomas Simpson Sharp, along with Michael Raymond Sharp and Gaston Louis Lanaux III, John will forever be regarded as a founding father of the EK Chapter.

Like his father and grandfather before him, John proudly served in the U.S. Army from 1967 to 1970. During his service, he was a faculty member for the U.S. Signal Corps in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and an Outpost Communications Commander in Vietnam. After his tour of duty, he was awarded the U.S. Army Commendation Medal and Bronze Star. In 1970, John transitioned from active duty to the U.S. Army Reserve in which he served until his retirement in 1987 at the rank of Lt. Colonel.  

Although John was encouraged to take over the family carpet business, he chose a career in law. Newly married, John and his dear and beloved bride, the former Beverly Ann Sharp, moved to Birmingham, Alabama in 1971 so that he could attend Cumberland Law at Samford University. With his doctorate of jurisprudence earned in 1975, John moved Beverly and his young daughter Margaret back to Louisiana to set up practice. Later that same year, his son and namesake Beau was born.

John owned the private law firm, Burgess & Lee, for 22 years, gaining prominence as an attorney for the Livingston Parish Sheriff's Office and 1982 Livingston train derailment case. He went on to serve as a magistrate judge for the Town of Walker for 11 years, an ad hoc judge for Denham Springs City Court for 4 years and a state hearing officer for the Louisiana Rehabilitation Services Agency.

While Livingston Parish enjoyed John's wit, intellectual prowess and discerning application of the law, he had another goal in mind – to become an administrative law judge like his mentor, the Honorable Henry Alvan Mentz Jr. This aspiration was realized when John was appointed by President Bill Clinton as an administrative law judge for the Social Security Administration and sworn in on March 28, 1997. John had the privilege of serving on the federal bench for 24 years. He famously never took sick days and preferred to instead donate them to federal employees around the country who needed the hours. Suffice to say, John enjoyed his job immensely and rarely took leave of the bench. Much like other judges of his caliber, John died in service.

John is a past former president of the 21st Judicial District and Livingston Parish Bar Associations and served three terms as a member of the House of Delegates of the Louisiana State Bar Association. He is a past chairman of the board for the Capital Area Chapter of the American Red Cross in Baton Rouge and served on the boards of the Southeastern Louisiana University Development Foundation and the Southeast Louisiana Legal Services Corp.  In 1999, the Louisiana congressional delegation arranged for the American flag to be flown over the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., in honor of his birthday.  

With a servant’s heart, John was an active member of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church, where he was Senior Warden, as well as legal consultant and substitute organist. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, he could be depended upon each Sunday to be present at 8 a.m. to usher or serve in any capacity needed.  

Along with a career full of achievements and long list of philanthropic pursuits, John had one more passion – Carter House. He and his wife Beverly resided in the home for 30 years and raised their children, Margaret and Beau, there. The federal-style raised home, which is located in Springfield and on the National Register of Historic Places for Louisiana, had been passed down through generations of his wife Beverly’s family, and the couple had the privilege and pleasure of being its last private owners. His daughter Margaret shares many cherished and humorous memories from her childhood of him tending to his fatherly and domestic duties, including: cleaning the pool on Saturday mornings in swim trunks and a signature wide-brimmed straw hat and chasing a confused squirrel out of the house after it had the misfortune of falling down one of the chimneys of the home’s five fireplaces. Margaret’s all-time favorite memory, however, is when the Judge was dispatched by her and her brother’s screams to catch and remove a bat from her bedroom. Within a span of 5 minutes, John swooped in, caught the bat with a laundry basket, tossed it out of a dormer window, ordered his traumatized children back to bed and stomped back down the stairs to catch the last bit of the evening news!

John instilled his love of music in his children. His son Beau believed that no gathering was complete without good music, amassing a catalog of more than 20,000 songs on his laptop. A nationally certified and licensed professional counselor, his daughter Margaret also is aboard-certified music therapist. For both of John’s children, music became a tool to establish connections with others.

Although a Georgia native, John developed an affinity for many Louisiana pastimes and traditions, especially Carnival. He was active in several Carnival organizations. One of his most treasured Carnival experiences was Margaret’s 1994 reign as Queen of the Caliphs of Cairo. To this day, her crown and scepter hold a place of honor on his desk.

The Judge is survived by: his beloved wife of 54 years, Beverly Ann Sharp Burgess; his daughter, Dr. Margaret Stotesbury Burgess Wright; son-in-law Brad William Wright; and grandson Harrison Stafford Wright, who affectionately nicknamed him “DaDa Beau.”

John is preceded in death by his parents and most treasured and beloved son, John Robert Burgess Jr., known to all as Beau.

Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Harry McKneely and Son of Hammond. The Very Reverend Paul M. Bailey, M. Div., Rector of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Hammond will lead private funeral services on Saturday, August 7, 2021. Interment in the cemetery of Grace Memorial Episcopal Church will immediately follow a 1:45 p.m. graveside service with full military honors. Friends are invited to join John’s family at the 1:45 p.m. graveside service and are asked to celebrate his life safely by masking and physically distancing in response to the pandemic.

John’s daughter, Margaret, will serve as pallbearer. Brothers-in-law Gaston Lanaux III and Michael Sharp, sisters-in-law Judy Catania Sharp and Maude Saunders Sharp, his legal secretary of 22 years Debra McKinney, and friends Dr. C. Howard and Sue Nichols will serve as honorary pallbearers.

In lieu of flowers, the Burgess family requests donations to the Grace Memorial Episcopal Foundation (P.O. Box 1086, Hammond,Louisiana 70404) or North Oaks Hospice (P.O. Box 2668, Hammond, Louisiana 70404). The Judge’s life was incredibly touched by both organizations.

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