John Garden Burchill was born in Newcastle, New Brunswick on Sept 23rd 1918 he was the son of the late Senator George Percival Burchill & Jean Gordon Garden Burchill. He attended Rothesay Collegiate School, UNB Fredericton and graduated 1941 with a BSC in Forestry. During World War 11 he was a Spitfire pilot, shot down and a prisoner of war for 4 days before escaping. After returning from WW2 John established and became the first president of the local branch of the Royal Canadian Air Force Association also known as "The Wing" located in Miramichi, New Brunswick, New Brunswick. He was a member and president of the Children’s Aid Society, president of the Canadian Association for the Mentally Challenged (CAMR), member of the Rotary Club of Newcastle and started the Radio Auction, honorary member of the Officers Mess Chatham, president of Miramichi Golf and Country Club, president Maritime Lumber Bureau, director Lord Beaverbrook Scholarship committee, president Alumni Society of UNB, member of the University Senate, director of NBTEL, National President Canadian Wood Council, and appointed Director of the Bank of Canada representing New Brunswick. He also was a Red Cross coordinator. He was an entrepreneur building the first log de-barker in Eastern Canada and the First Eastern Softwood Plywood Mill in Canada for Geo Burchill & Sons plywood mill.
John fell ill in fall of 2011 and passed on October 22 2011 after struggling with Pneumonia.