The wife of an army mechanic and “doting” father of two from Dundee who has died of a brain haemorrhage has told of her heartbreak at losing the man who meant “everything” to her.
Sergeant John Burke of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers collapsed in the Bad Fallingbostel home he shared with wife Kay and his two boys John (10) and Matthew (6).
The veteran’s body has been repatriated from Germany to Scotland, and his devastated wife told of her heartache.
“We would have been together 11 years in April,” Kay (36) said. “He meant a lot to me, everything basically. He was a big family man and loved the kids.
“Because he went on tour he missed out on so much but when he was at home he was always doing stuff with the kids.
“When we were back on leave he took our eldest to Dundee United and when we were in Germany he took him to the Hannover 96 matches.”
The 43-year-old took ill on the morning of March 8 and died before help came.
“We didn’t have time for anything like that. It was very short, only about 10 minutes, he just collapsed and that was it, ” Kay said.
“John had been in the army for 21 years and was due to get out in August to return to civilian life. He loved the army but we had decided we were going to move back to Scotland and we just wanted to get things sorted out for the kids and get settled.”
Kay said her husband’s death left family and friends devastated.
A lifelong United fan, he had appeared on Soccer AM after being snapped with his flag in Iraq. And one of the last things he did was watch the Tangerines’ 3-1 victory over Aberdeen on the night before he died.
Kay said, “Everybody knew him as John the Joker and he was always willing to help anybody. He always supported Dundee United and he always watched for the score. He watched the game on the Monday night and he was happy about that.”
Sgt Burke had also set up an ‘Army Arabs’ Facebook page.
A spokesman for Dundee United said, “John was a proud United fan who was keen to spread the name of Dundee United FC wherever his service took him in the world. We are deeply saddened to hear of the loss of a great United fan and would like to pass on our condolences to his family and friends.”