Burkett was born Oct. 2, 1962 and passed away peacefully after a brief courageous battle with pancreatic cancer at Hospice just a few weeks ago on January 30 at the young age of 54 surrounded by his loving family.
His children (two sons and a daughter) were the greatest joys in his life. The former Northwestern Wildcat offensive lineman football player, 27 year-old Benjamin, 21 year-old University of Kentucky Senior, journalist, Carrie or “Cooie” along with her dog, Cooper, and a 20 year-old University of Findlay Junior, baseball player Peter. Burkett first met his wife, Susan at Maumee High School in their younger days and the two married shortly after they both graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1986.
Burkett was a very passionate man who truly enjoyed spending time with his family and friends. He definitely had a love for being outdoors and telling stories as he always had something to say. Friends and family knew him as, “Jimmy”, “Jimbo”, “Jumbo”, “Uncle Jim”, “UJ”, “Bo” or “Jamesy”.
When he wasn’t fishing, or hunting, he was out on the water on one of his several boats or spending time at the Perrysburg Boat Club where he was a proud member. Because of his passion for hunting and the outdoors, his family honored him at his graveside in the cemetery with a 21-gun salute after the guys made their duck calls.
If he wasn’t participating in one of those outdoor activities, Burkett was then consumed by sports and truly enjoyed watching his boys play all through their school years and especially at the collegiate level and they hosted many great tail gate gatherings at those games.
In his High School days, Burkett won several athletic awards in both baseball and football and was inducted into the Maumee High School Hall of Fame in 2010. He was the first to be awarded the Adult Contributor Award for CYO and was the football commissioner for six years in addition to coaching hundreds of young children over the numerous seasons.
Burkett joined Owens Corning Trumbull Asphalt in September 2011. In total, he spent over 26 years in the roofing industry, between Trumbull, Firestone and Genflex. He made significant accomplishments in the roofing industry, in a variety roles consisting of, field tech rep, roof warranty claims, R&D, engineering, technical, marketing, product manager and business manager. Burkett made great relationships with everyone, and always made those around him feel very comfortable — be it roofing customer, contractor, distributor, manufacturer, consultant, specifier or architect.
In addition to his immediate family, he is also survived by his parents, two brothers, as well as many loving aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and friends.
