In Memory

Kay Burke

Kay Burke


 

 

Kay Francis Burke

    February 16, 1944  -  January 10, 2014

Kay Francis Burke passed away January 10, 2014, in Winnipeg, Canada, after a lengthy illness. Kay was born February 16, 1944, in Drayton, N.D, the daughter of Francis and Dorothy (Brown) Burke. They moved to Grand Forks in 1948. Kay attended schools in Grand Forks, including the University of North Dakota where she earned degrees in Home Economics and Special Education. She earned a master’s degree in Special Education and Vision from San Francisco State College in San Francisco, California. She taught Home Economics in Baudette, MN, and Brisbane, Australia. She spent two years traveling in Nepal, through the Middle East, Europe and London. She later worked at the North Dakota School for the Blind and immigrated to Winnipeg where she worked for the province of Manitoba as a Vision Consultant for the Department of Special Education.
Kay adopted two girls, Sheryl and Amanda, and raised the girls in Winnipeg. In her retirement years she enjoyed raising Boston Terrier show dogs.
Kay is survived by her daughters, Sheryl Burke, Amanda (Jesse) Denby, and grandson, Joseph Denby all of Winnipeg, Canada; sister, Janet Burke of Grand Forks, ND, brother Larry (Ann) Burke of Fairbanks, Alaska, and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral Services: 3:00 PM on Thursday, March 27, 2014, at Wesley United Methodist Church 1600 4th Ave. N., Grand Forks, ND. A reception will follow at the church after the Funeral Service.

 
 



 
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03/26/14 07:52 AM #1    

Janice Vignes (Sanders)

Dearest Kay-may you rest in peace-what a full and rewarding life you lived-now forever in the arms of the angels.....


03/27/14 11:23 AM #2    

Margaret Berg (Kline)

I'm so sorry to hear that Kay passed away.  I have many wonderful memories of the time we spent together.  One in particular has come to mind many times throughout the years and it always makes me laugh.  Kay and I were out at their ranch near Arvilla, and I think we were looking for horses to ride.  At any rate, we were in the pickup and Kay, never a person to give up, was driving all over through the trees and shrubs (no road, mind you) and before I knew it we were sideways on a 30 to 40 deg. hill with the passenger side (my side!) facing downhill.  I still remember hanging onto the door for dear life; if the door had popped open I would probably have fallen out and rolled the rest of the way down the hill!  Then we discovered the pickup wouldn't move, and when we got out to take a look we found that a long string of barbed wire was wrapped tightly around the back axel. Only to us did these things seem to happen...!  Anyway, I don't remember exactly how we got out of that fix, but I don't remember having any wire cutters along (which was probably fortunate because we would have had to work our way on our stomachs through thistles and burrs to get to the axel) so I think we walked back to the farm house to get help from whichever hapless person happened to appear in our line of sight.  I would have thought, after all those years of our being friends, that her family would have given us a wide berth whenever they saw us coming!

The memories are too many to write about here, but I've thought of her lovingly throughout the years; she was a good and dear friend.

In loving memory,

Margie


03/27/14 06:23 PM #3    

Dorothy Monson (Patrick)

Kay led such an interesting life!   I am sorry I didn't know her better.     Thank you, Margie, for sharing such a fun story with us.  May her family have many happy memories of Kay.


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