On May 11, 2024, John Ely Burchard III galloped off to the desert in the sky. Born on January 15, 1932, John was elegant and adventurous, with a passionate love for the outdoors. For sport, he hunted with Salukis and falcons in Saudi Arabia. He loved competing with his Salukis and his favorite, Akira, always won. When the other competitors saw him coming, they said, "Well, we've lost now, we might as well go home." John was also an avid ice climber, climbing the Dolomites in Italy using the hand-made ice axe from Zermatt that his father used to climb the Himalayas.

John earned a PhD in Marine Biology from Princeton, teaching and studying all over the world, including Saudi Arabia, Switzerland and Nigeria. He was a gourmet chef who even at age 92 wore his white chef's apron and toque to cook exotic dishes. Aware of his diminishing memory, he told me, "I haven't totally lost my wits but I'm hard put to keep what little bit I have left."

His sparkling brilliance and sharp sense of humor will be missed by his brother Marshall Burchard of Largo Florida, his niece Wendy Burchard of New York, his cousins, Leslie Arwin of Michigan and Melanie Arwin of New York, his son John Ely Burchard lV of Guam, and his grandson Ethan Burchard of Florida, and a host of friends who remember him fondly.

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