J.F. Burgoyne Jr., 77, card-company executive

Joseph F. Burgoyne Jr., 77, formerly of Jenkintown and Montgomeryville, a retired greeting-card company executive and amateur magician whose son Tom is the Phillie Phanatic, died of a stroke Wednesday at Dock Woods Community in Lansdale.

Mr. Burgoyne grew up in West Oak Lane. He graduated from St. Joseph's Preparatory School and earned a bachelor's degree from St. Joseph's University.

From 1954 to 1956, he served at Andrews Air Force Base near Washington.

After his discharge, he joined Burgoyne Inc., a greeting-card company his grandfather founded in Philadelphia in 1907.

Mr. Burgoyne eventually became president of the firm, which published Christmas cards. Every December, he delighted his employees by showing up at their work stations dressed as Santa Claus, his family said. He retired as president in the mid-1980s and then was a consultant for the company for 15 years, assisting with sales and helping to choose card designs.

While his children were growing up, Mr. Burgoyne was president of Jenkintown Youth Activities. He developed an interest in magic as a teenager, and as Woofus the Clown performed tricks at social gatherings. In the 1970s he entertained at children's birthday parties with his young son as his assistant.

Mr. Burgoyne was a baseball-card collector and a Phillies fan. For more than a dozen years, until 2007, he watched his son's antics at Phillies spring-training games in Clearwater, Fla. He also attended games at Citizens Bank Park, and last year his family took him in his wheelchair to the last regular game of the season.

Mr. Burgoyne was also an Eagles season-ticket holder and a subscriber to the Philly Pops. He loved Sinatra songs, his family said.

Since 1957, he had been married to Kathleen "Kay" Wenz Burgoyne. The couple met on the boardwalk in Ocean City, N.J., and returned there every summer with their children. They also traveled abroad, and in 2006 took a cruise to Bermuda with 28 family members.

In addition to his wife and son, Mr. Burgoyne is survived by sons Joseph, Stephen, and Mark; daughters Ellen Hubrig and Kathleen Carlisle; two sisters; and 15 grandchildren.

A Funeral Mass will be said at 10:30 a.m. today at Mary Mother of the Redeemer Church, 1325 Upper State Rd., North Wales. Friends may call from 8:45. Burial will be in St. John Neumann Cemetery, Chalfont.