Read George Burgan

Bootjack

Read Burgan of Bootjack passed away Sunday, October 4, 2026, at the age of 83.

He was born on September 21, 1943, to Irma (Karhu) and George Burgan in Laurium, MI. He attended Charles Briggs School in Laurium and graduated from Houghton High School in 1961.

He earned a Bachelor of Religious Education (BRE) degree from Grand Rapids Baptist College (now Cornerstone University) in 1967. In 1970, he was awarded a master’s degree (MA) in Communications from Wheaton College in Illinois.

In 1970, he joined the staff of WGGL at Michigan Technological University, where he was director until the university closed the facility in December of 1980. During that time he oversaw the growth of the station from a 250-watt monaural FM station to a 100,000-watt stereo facility with three production facilities, a full-time staff of seven and a part-time staff of 12 students. Under his direction, the station received several hundred thousand dollars in grants, was the first radio station in the Copper Country to install a satellite network system, and was a charter member of National Public Radio.

Following the end of the university’s involvement with the station, he was self-employed. He started his own digital audio restoration company, RGB Digital Audio, serving clients around the world. During that period, more than 30 of his articles reviewing digital audio software and hardware were published in Radio World and Pro Audio Review, and another 30 articles on the history and personalities of radio’s golden age.

At various periods in his life was a member of the Evangel Baptist Church of Houghton and the Bethany Baptist Church of Dollar Bay where he served as an adult Sunday School teacher, worship leader, deacon and lay preacher. He served as a substitute preacher in many Protestant churches in the western Upper Peninsula.

He had a love for dogs and for most of his life was never without one. Because he carried dog treats in his pocket and offered them to any dog he met, he was known as “The Candy Man”.

He was preceded in death by his parents, George Lincoln Burgan and Irma Olga Burgan, an infant sister, DeeAnn Read Burgan, and by his brother Roland Bruce Burgan and Roland’s wife Mary Burgan.

He is survived by several cousins and a nephew and his Bootjack family.

At his request, there will be no funeral, and the body has been cremated with burial in the family plot at the Lake View Cemetery in Calumet.

To view Read’s obituary or to send condolences, please visit www.memorialchapel.net