Burt Jastram was the son of Burton Albert Jastram Sr. and Alma Marie Smith of Lakeshore Avenue in Oakland and grandson of German immigrants, Joachim Christian Ludwig Jastram and Sophia Mernitz. He was born in San Francisco and raised as an only child. "Iron Man" Jastram, a graduate of Oakland High School, rowed in the No. 4 position and set the crew record of having more hours in the California university shell than any other oarsman at the time.[4][5]
He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in architecture and a seat on the United States' Olympic rowing crew. After winning his Olympic Gold Medal he did post-graduate work in Engineering and began a career with Standard Oil of California.
Jastram was Chief Architect with Standard Oil and supervised construction of the company's towers—one 20- and one 40-story building, as well as a garden plaza on Market Street in San Francisco.
On June 9, 1935, Jastram married Frances Wanless Christie. A daughter, Cathy Ann, was born to the couple on July 24, 1942.[6]
Jastram belonged to the Museum Societies of both San Francisco and Oakland, Delta Sigma Chi Architectural Honor Society, National Trust for Historic Preservation, The Big "C" Society, and was a life member of the Mechanics' Institutes.[7]