Professional baseball player, decorated WW II combat veteran, State Senator and trial attorney John McBurney, Jr, passed away June 8, 2015. He was 90.

John played professional baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants at the AA level. He set an Interstate League record for home runs in one game (3), and was voted first team AAU All-American center fielder for Providence College.

In WWII, John saw combat in France and Bavaria as an infantry scout with the 103rd Infantry Division. He was briefly taken prisoner by German forces in Alsace before escaping. Among other medals, he won the Legion of Honor (France's highest award) and the Bronze Star for valor. With the 103rd, he helped liberate the Landsberg extermination camp near Munich. He finished his service as military governor of Fulpmes, Austria. Before shipping overseas he was the 411th Battalion's welterweight boxing champion.

John entered the RI Senate in 1958, representing Pawtucket for 16 years. He chaired the Judiciary and Health, Education and Welfare Committees, and introduced RI's Fair Housing Act in 1964, prevailing over entrenched business interests. He was a delegate to the 1960 and 1964 Democratic National Conventions.

He founded McBurney Law Services in 1953. As a sole practitioner in the 1970s, he reportedly had more cases on RI's civil jury docket than any other attorney or firm.

John graduated from Attleboro High School (1942), Providence College (1948) and Boston College Law School (1951). He attended Seminary School at Providence College before the War. He taught high school in Pawtucket, served as Pawtucket Assistant City Solicitor, and served 14 years as a Commissioner with the RI Board of Elections. He proudly maintained his electrical contractor's license all his life.

He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Ann (Rivello) McBurney, five children: John McBurney, III, Esq. and his wife Cheryl; Michael McBurney and his wife Kathleen; Christine McBurney, Esq.; Dr. Cathleen McBurney-Saros and her husband Nicholas; and Mark McBurney, Esq., as well as 20 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren. He was also the father of the late Kevin McBurney.

The wake will be at Manning-Heffern Funeral Home, 68 Broadway, Pawtucket, on Thursday, June 11 from 4 to 8. A funeral Mass of Christian Burial will be held at Holy Family Church (formerly St. Joseph's), 195 Walcott St, Pawtucket, on Friday, June 12 at 10 am, followed by a full Military Honors burial in Mt St Mary's Cemetery. For online condolences please visit www.manningheffern.com. In lieu of flowers, the family asks you consider donating to the Philip Hulitar Home and Hospice Care Center, 1085 North Main Street, Providence.