Marie Elizabeth Burke's Obituary
Born August 8 1931 in Pasadena, CA, Marie spent her life doing things her way. She was an independent single career woman who owned her own home, served in the Air Force, and raced Corvettes. This all was during a time when respectable young women were expected to get married, raise a family, and drive a station wagon (the latter of which she was adamantly opposed to).
She was an athletic young girl and often described herself as a tomboy -- she enjoyed playing football with the boys, and spent one entire winter as a teenager skiing on the shores of Crater Lake in Oregon. But she also took dance lessons and had her share of frilly dolls. She also had a love of animals and had aspirations to become a veterinarian.
As it turned out, she did become a vet, but instead of a veterinarian she became a veteran. Upon graduating from high school in 1949 she joined the Air Force. She served during the Korean War and learned to drive trucks, operate teletype machines, and volunteered as a medic. When she was 19 while stationed in Mobile, AL she contracted polio. After a long recovery she went from iron lung to wheelchair and eventually learned to walk again (after having been told this would not happen).
When she left the hospital she went back west to California and began a career in the real estate industry as a title insurance and escrow officer in Marin County. It was during this time she took up the sport of motor racing. She raced Corvettes on the weekends, having been the proud owner of three different Corvettes over several years (two 1957’s and one 1964). At long last, she met her future husband and married in 1964. A year later they moved to southern California and the first of two boys was born – it was only after he reached the age of 6 months that she reluctantly agreed the Corvette was not going to be a practical family car. Although it left her driveway, it never truly left her heart.
As a mother she busied herself with raising her two boys and occasionally worked part time in her husband’s business. She also ran her own company for a time and later returned to the world of real estate, working as an agent in southern California. She became very involved with her sons’ musical pursuits, immersing herself in the world of philanthropy and fund raising related to the performing arts. When her second son became interested in cars as a teenager, unlike most mothers, she was downright supportive of the series of cars (and various spare parts that went with them) that were acquired and spent time in the driveway and garage of the house.
When the boys moved away she and her husband fulfilled a longstanding desire to move to the desert, settling in Scottsdale, AZ where they lived for 13 years. Later they moved to Annapolis, MD in order to be closer to their sons (one of whom practices as a neurosurgeon at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, MD, the other of whom was living in New York City at the time).
Marie passed away on December 14, 2015 and is survived by her husband, Bernard (Bud) Burke (currently living in Catonsville, MD); her son Ron (currently living in London); and her son Tim, daughter-in-law Audrey and grandson Richard (residents of Crownsville, MD). She is also survived by her step daughter Bonnie Pearson, who lives in Sonoma County, CA, three further grandchildren – Terri Filippo, Robyn Greenwood, and Michael Greenwood, all of whom live in Sonoma County, CA – and two great grandchildren (Owen and Zoe Filippo).
What’s your fondest memory of Marie?
What’s a lesson you learned from Marie?
Share a story where Marie's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Marie you’ll never forget.
How did Marie make you smile?
