Ronald Burke chose his role as a cook in the Canadian military and to this day he has no regrets about it.
Burke was in the Air Force and served in both the Army and the Navy for 30 years — and 149 days — and says he still feels the passion he had for his jobs.
Working as a chef, Burke had the ongoing duty of feeding troops, and his passion came from the many stories he would hear and the new places he got to see.
Burke loved to cook and through his time in the military, he found that his love for his job kept growing.
Although it was hard work that he was doing he found a sense of peace when he was there. Cooking meals was more than just feeding the troops for Burke, it was about presentability and quality as well.
“You had to be on top of what everyone was eating, if they didn’t eat you were out of a job,” he said.
Burke has been to some places that not everyone would think a chef would be.
He was placed aboard a ship when he had volunteered for the Navy, he was on what they called a DDH destroyer and would feed 225 people in a kitchen that was 10 metres long, 2.5 metres wide, and two metres high.
Cooking in a ship’s kitchen was a lot different than being in one on land, he said.
“It was pretty difficult to feed because you were at sea, and you were in storms,” he mentioned.
Burke found himself working in the furthest inhabited place in Canada, about 800 kilometres south of the North Pole, where he spent six months at Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert.
This was another place that wasn’t where he thought he would be working, and it was a tricky spot for him as he had to cook under tents with gas stoves which got warm.
“Similar to what you do when you are going camping, except it’s not camping,” he said.
Looking back, Burke says he enjoyed cooking some meals more than others.
Steak and seafood were among his favourites, which were offered on special meal Sundays.
He also enjoyed doing buffet parties for the troops after they finished military college, where he would feed upward of 5,000 people at an event.
Presentation of the food was as important as the taste for Burke as he would carve butter, so it wasn’t just a block, and he made ice carvings.
“We got to throw a little bit of our expertise in there decorating, carving butter instead of just having a block of butter, making ice carvings all that stuff,” he said.
“I like doing that.”
He loves to share and look back at this time because of the huge impact it had on his life.
Burke could talk about his experience for hours and has with his grandchildren. His granddaughter, Janie Burke, was touched by the stories he had and found surprising things about it.
His grandson, John Burke, found that he was more influenced by his work and wanted to walk in the footsteps of his grandfather in the future.
“I think his stories have influenced my brother and have made my brother more interested in both cooking and potentially going into the military,” said Janie.
One story Janie always loved hearing about was the time her grandfather cooked for Queen Elizabeth and served the Royal Family which is rare for many people.
“I thought it was cool and a cool opportunity to be able to do,” she said.
Janie got the chance to meet one of the men Burke served with and in this instance, it was a special moment for not only her to hear the stories they had shared but also for her grandfather to bump into someone he had worked with on the force.
Burke says he still has contact with people through Facebook groups he has but hasn’t had the chance to meet them in person again, so this was a time he valued.
“It was kind of a special moment because obviously it wasn't planned and was out of the blue,” said Janie.
Burke says there wasn’t a time that he didn’t enjoy his job during his 30-year career, even if there were times, he got angry.
He joined the military at 17 and retired at 48 with his head high and proud of being able to wear the uniform and serve his country and troops.
“I can honestly say I was passionate about my job the whole time,” he said. “ I spent 30 years, and I loved every day of it.”
