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Published on: 3/5/2002
Last Visited: 11/16/2002
Eugene Carter & John Burgess
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John Jarvis Burgess
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History - John Jarvis Burgess
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John Jarvis Burgess 1913-1998
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John Jarvis BurgessJohn Jarvis Burgess was born August 18, 1913, in Fort Worth.His father was a rancher and the family lived north of the Stockyards area until Burgess was in the fourth grade."That was a pretty rough neighborhood, and my mother wanted me and my four sisters to be brought up in a different environment, so we moved to Mistletoe Heights."It was a fortuitous move because it was in that neighborhood that Burgess met Eugene Hudson Carter, who would become his lifelong friend and business partner.
Burgess graduated from Fort Worth's Central High School in 1931, and pursued engineering at the encouragement of his father."He told me, ‘I can teach you more than I've already taught you about horses and cows and when to sell and what to feed and things like that, but this world is getting so technical that I think the best thing you could do is go and get a good foundation in engineering.' And that's what I did."
Burgess graduated magna cum laude in 1935 from Virginia Military Institute (VMI), with a civil engineering degree.He returned to Fort Worth where he worked on a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project (programs that generated jobs for millions of Americans during the Depression) for Fort Worth Public Schools.Gene Carter was among the other landscape architects and engineers working on that program.
John Burgess & Gene Carter in the 1940sWhen that program ended, Burgess went to Cleburne, Texas, to work as a city engineer on another WPA project.While there, he served as a fireman at night in exchange for a free place to sleep."It was one of those two-story fire halls where you slid down the pole, and I remember the first call I made.My cot was right under the fire bell, and that thing went off one night about one o'clock in the morning and I shot straight out of bed and realized where I was.And I hurried and got my clothes on and slid down the pole.Just one thing: I forgot to fasten my coat, and when I slid down the pole, it just burned me. So I learned to fasten my coat before I slid down that pole."
More important, while working on the WPA project Burgess got an inside look at city administration and politics that served him well throughout his career.
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When the Cleburne WPA project ended in 1937, Burgess joined National Supply Construction Corp. as an oilfield construction engineer on well installations in Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi.Working in the oilfields, Burgess got an education in working long hours and managing people."I think we were working about 10 hours a day, six days a week, and there wasn't any labor overtime and all that jazz at that time, and I think I could get a dollar and a half an hour.So I had done pretty good."
It was also during this period that Burgess met and married Florence Lydard Floore of Fort Worth."We were married in Longview, but she didn't like the oilfields.Gene was real busy here and I called him one day and said I was coming to work for him.And, he said, ‘I don't really have anything for you to do,' and I said, ‘Well, I'm coming anyway.' And I did, and then we never ran out of work."
John Burgess with Gene Carter, Hohnny Burgess and Wilton HammondThe year was 1939, and the partnership of Carter & Burgess was off and running.Located in downtown Fort Worth in the Century Building and later in the Mutual Savings & Loan Building, they started out doing landscape and site work for prominent residences as well as public housing projects.However, as one of the first firms in the region to combine civil engineering with planning and landscape architecture, Carter & Burgess was soon in demand for larger and more complex projects.During the build-up to World War II, they worked throughout the Southwest planning housing at military bases and upgrading civil airfields to military use."We had a good combination of landscape architecture and engineering, which made a good marriage, made a good package."
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Having graduated from VMI with a commission in the U.S. Cavalry, Burgess was eager to join an engineering battalion that was going into active duty, but he and Carter were doing work on a large quartermaster depot in Fort Worth."I went out and told Major Bradley at the depot, ‘I'm leaving you and the quartermaster depot.I'm going into the service.' And he said, ‘John, you aren't going anywhere until you finish this job.This is just as important to duty as anything.' So I stayed there until we finished up the work we were doing."As the project neared completion, Burgess had the opportunity to join the Marine Corps through his former commandant at VMI."Things were in good condition with the quartermaster depot, and I felt enough patriotism and loyalty that I had to get into this mess."He joined the Marines in 1943 and was trained as a flight director.He achieved the rank of captain while serving in the Pacific Theater and on the China mainland, and participated in major battles at Okinawa, the Philippines and in China.
John Burgess receives a Dolly Parton singing telegram"I went ashore over the side at Okinawa.It was ‘D-Day' there.And we stayed there until the war was over.From there they sent our outfit to Peking, China, to set up a radar station and act as flight controllers to the United States Army Air Force, which was flying nationalist Chinese soldiers in there so the Japanese could surrender to them.So I had to stay over there until the spring of '46.That's when I got to come home, and that's when I walked in the door and said, ‘I'm ready to go to work again.'"
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Burgess resumed his partnership with Carter and they soon found themselves in the thick of the postwar boom.Carter & Burgess provided master planning and engineering for Fort Worth's leading land owners and developers and helped plan many of the area's commercial and residential developments.The firm also was involved in postwar master planning and improvement projects at military bases, major municipal infrastructure projects throughout Tarrant County, and urban renewal projects in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, New Mexico and Louisiana.Business growth led the firm to construct its own building at 1100 Macon Street in 1956."There was always something to do.I think people seemed to like us, and we liked people.We tried to do honorable work and give them full value for the service we did.
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Burgess, Steve O'Kelley and Jerry AllenBusiness was brisk through the 1960s, with one of the highlights being the firm's selection to help plan and design Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.Carter & Burgess was incorporated in 1967, paving the way for new growth and leadership.During the next 15 years, the firm continued to grow in the immediate vicinity while opening offices in Houston and Dallas.Burgess retired as chairman in 1988, but maintained an office at the corporate headquarters until his death.
John Burgess at his 70th birthday partyAs an engineer and businessman, Burgess was known by his employees and clients alike for setting the highest standards for professionalism, innovation, honesty and integrity.He and Carter encouraged the firm to invest in new technology and expand into markets and disciplines that placed the firm at the leading edge of capabilities and client services.At the same time, they fostered a family atmosphere among their shareholders and employees that endures to this day.
Burgess was well respected throughout his profession, which sought his leadership in various associations.He was a member of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, was named "Engineer of the Year" in 1971, and was a president of the Fort Worth chapter.He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, also serving as the local chapter president.In 1992 he received the "Service to People Award" from the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers.He also was a member of the Society of American Military Engineers and the Consulting Engineers Council of Texas.
But there was more to John Burgess than the professional man whom everyone respected and admired.He was a dedicated family man who with Florence had two sons, a daughter, three granddaughters, three grandsons and two great-grandsons.
John Burgess with (from left) Bill Bell, Bart Bradford, Dan Conlin and Jerry Van HornHe was also a civic-minded man who worked tirelessly for the good of his home town.Burgess served on the Fort Worth Planning and Zoning Commission, including two years as chairman, and was a former president of the Tarrant County Historical Society.He was active in the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, serving on the Board of Directors from 1986 t
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