Saratoga Springs - Colonel Michael F. Burke (U.S. Air Force, Ret.), beloved father, husband, brother and grandfather, passed away May 3, 2009 in Glens Falls Hospital after a lengthy illness. He was 71.
Mike was born January 3, 1938 in Saratoga Springs. He served as the
President of the 1955 senior class at St Peter's Academy. Staying close
to the ski slopes, he earned an English degree from St. Michael's
College in Colchester, VT. He later earned an MBA from the University
of Nebraska - Lincoln. Mike served in the U.S. Air Force from 1960 to
1989. He was trained and served as a Navigator on the C-47 Gooney Bird
and the B-52 aircraft. While stationed in Marquette, Michigan, he met
Kathy Kelly (Captain USAF, deceased). They married and had three
daughters. He was later stationed at the Strategic Air Command, Offutt
Air Force Base and served a tour of duty in Vietnam. Mike also
graduated from the Air War College, Maxwell AFB (Montgomery, Alabama).
In 1978, he and the family moved to the Supreme Headquarters Allied
Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium where he worked for the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization's (NATO) Plans and Programs. His next assignment
was stateside at Hanscom AFB, Mass. He served on a seven-man research
team for Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative and later was assigned
to a joint project with the Air Force and Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. The Pentagon was Mike's final assignment with the Air
Force. Upon retirement, he continued his work in ballistic missile
defense at Dynamics Research Corporation (DRC) and Computer Sciences
Corporation (CSC).
Mike had a great sense of humor, loved his family and his country. He fully retired in March of 2003 and made his way back to his beloved Saratoga Springs and married Diana Murphy in Feb 2006. He grew up just a few blocks from Saratoga Race Track on Lincoln Avenue and you could say horses were in his blood. Too tall to be a jockey (he was 6' 3"), he got his first job at the racetrack and followed the racing industry throughout his life. It is fitting that his last job would be at the National Museum of Racing
doing research. He loved every minute of it.
Mike is pre-deceased by his parents, David W. and Catherine Burke, his brothers John and David Burke and his first wife, Kathy.
Survivors include his wife Diana Burke; his daughters Kate Kurtzke of Ashburn, VA, Chris Samisch of Valrico, FL and Kerri-Rose Burke of Arlington, VA; his stepson Joseph Murphy of Saratoga Springs; his grandchildren Stephen, Michael, Jack Kurtzke, Samantha, Sean and Clark Samisch, David and Tara Murphy; his sister Mary and brother-in-law Jack Fitzsimons of Tequesta, FL; sister-in-law Pat Burke of Saratoga Springs and sister-in-law Anne Burke of Newport, RI, as well as several nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends gathered on Thursday May 7, 2009 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes of Saratoga Springs.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated this morning, Friday, May 8, 2009 at 11 a.m. at St. Clement's Church, 231 Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs.
The Rev. Neil Draves-Arpaia will officiate.
Burial with military honors will be at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Duell Rd., Schuylerville.
To say he will be missed is an understatement. He was much loved and gave back ten-fold.
Donations in Mike's name may be made to the National Museum of Racing, 191 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 or to the Hortense and Louis Rubin Dialysis Center, 59C Myrtle St, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
Mike had a great sense of humor, loved his family and his country. He fully retired in March of 2003 and made his way back to his beloved Saratoga Springs and married Diana Murphy in Feb 2006. He grew up just a few blocks from Saratoga Race Track on Lincoln Avenue and you could say horses were in his blood. Too tall to be a jockey (he was 6' 3"), he got his first job at the racetrack and followed the racing industry throughout his life. It is fitting that his last job would be at the National Museum of Racing
doing research. He loved every minute of it.
Mike is pre-deceased by his parents, David W. and Catherine Burke, his brothers John and David Burke and his first wife, Kathy.
Survivors include his wife Diana Burke; his daughters Kate Kurtzke of Ashburn, VA, Chris Samisch of Valrico, FL and Kerri-Rose Burke of Arlington, VA; his stepson Joseph Murphy of Saratoga Springs; his grandchildren Stephen, Michael, Jack Kurtzke, Samantha, Sean and Clark Samisch, David and Tara Murphy; his sister Mary and brother-in-law Jack Fitzsimons of Tequesta, FL; sister-in-law Pat Burke of Saratoga Springs and sister-in-law Anne Burke of Newport, RI, as well as several nieces and nephews.
Relatives and friends gathered on Thursday May 7, 2009 at the William J. Burke & Sons/Bussing & Cunniff Funeral Homes of Saratoga Springs.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated this morning, Friday, May 8, 2009 at 11 a.m. at St. Clement's Church, 231 Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs.
The Rev. Neil Draves-Arpaia will officiate.
Burial with military honors will be at the Gerald B.H. Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery, Duell Rd., Schuylerville.
To say he will be missed is an understatement. He was much loved and gave back ten-fold.
Donations in Mike's name may be made to the National Museum of Racing, 191 Union Avenue, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866 or to the Hortense and Louis Rubin Dialysis Center, 59C Myrtle St, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866.
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