Local Man Remebered For Love of the Sea, Wooden Boats, Helping Others Achieve Education

Obituary courtesy of Phoenixville's Campbell Ennis Klotzbach Funeral Home.

Robert Joseph Burke, 78, died on Monday, June 20, 2016 at peace and surrounded by his family. Bob was born in Darby, Pennsylvania on December 8, 1937 to Richard and Marguerite Burke. He attended St. Andrew's Elementary School in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, and graduated from West Philadelphia Catholic High School for Boys in 1956.

At age seventeen and in his junior year in high school, Bob joined the U.S. Naval Reserves. He earned an honorable discharge in 1965. Following his marriage to Ginny Killian in 1963, they resided for one year in Ocean City, New Jersey, before moving to Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, where they became parents of four children. In 1969, the family moved to Kimberton, Pennsylvania. After securing employment in the corrugated container business, Bob set a career in sales as his goal. He worked in numerous positions at several major corrugated packaging manufacturing corporations, learning the business from the ground up, before finally achieving his goal at Anchor Container Corporation in Philadelphia. Bob truly loved making new friends and throughout his life everyone he met was "a great guy" or, his favorite expression, "a real sweetheart." Not surprisingly, he was successful at his chosen employment. He always had a smile for everyone and that smile could light up a room. In the early '80s, his entrepreneurship expanded to include the label business and, applying his usual energy and positive spirit, led to the establishment of his own small sales firm, Dove Enterprises, Inc. in 1981. His business flourished and brought him much joy and no small amount of pride. Although he frequently stated that he would never retire, in 2003 illness forced him to do so.

Bob's love of the sea, starting at an early age, was well-known to his family and friends. As a boy, given the choice of the beach or the bay, he discovered very early that he would far rather spend time on the docks bayside, where he learned to clean fish for tips. As a young adult, he discovered Chris-Craft mahogany speedboats, launching a love affair with wooden boats that lasted for the rest of his life. In later years, he was never happier than when he was out on the Ocean City bay in his own Chris-Craft, "Fine Wine" or up to his elbows refinishing one of several old wooden boats residing in his three-car garage (while the family cars were parked in the driveway!) The sea provided Bob and his family with many happy hours of fishing or crabbing in the bay, water-skiing, or simply enjoying being on the water. Following in his father's footsteps, Bob also loved to golf. Just prior to Bob's fortieth birthday, his oldest son, Michael, introduced him to skiing. Bob never lacked enthusiasm for his favorite activities and skiing was certainly no exception. Because he was sure everyone in the family would enjoy skiing as much as he did (and he was right!) he arranged skiing lessons for everyone during the first of many winter vacations at Haystack Mountain or Mount Snow in Vermont. Bob later made annual skiing trips to the northwestern United States and Canada with his buddies. When the seasons or the weather interfered with his favorite outdoor activities, Bob was reasonably content working in the garage or relaxing indoors, watching the Eagles or the Phillies on TV.

Above all else, Bob loved his family and as he watched his children grow he was justly proud of the fine adults they became. Although of modest education himself, Bob made college education a high priority for his family, starting with his wife, who was the first in the family to earn a B.A. when she graduated from Immaculata College in 1989. Michael graduated from the University of Maryland in 1993, after serving honorably in the U.S. Air Force; Rob graduated from St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia in 1999 and Kate graduated from Villanova University in 1991, after which she earned an M.S.S. from Bryn Mawr College in 2012. However, nothing brought Bob greater joy than his role as "Pop-Pop" to four precious grandchildren, although it was for far too short a time. Over the years, wherever Bob traveled he always came home with numerous photographs of sunsets. Even as the sun had begun to set on his own life, he still found peace and beauty in the day's end and he and Ginny always made time on summer evenings to drive to their favorite quiet spots near French Creek to enjoy the sunsets.

Besides his wife of 52 years, Bob is survived by his sons, Michael; Rob and his wife, Barbara; and a daughter, Katie Consolo and her husband, Tony; as well as four precious grandchildren: Kayleigh and Patrick Burke, and Brigid and Megan Consolo, all of whom are left to cherish his memory as a beloved husband and father and the world's best Pop-Pop. In addition to his wife, his children and grandchildren, Bob is survived by a brother, Richard and his wife, Joan of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania and a sister, Marguerite Noyes and her husband, Jim of Aiken, South Carolina, as well as numerous loving cousins, brothers and sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews and dear friends. In 1969, he was predeceased by a son, Patrick. Bob will be remembered with deep affection by all who knew him for his friendship, his generosity and perhaps most of all, his great enthusiasm for life.

A funeral mass will be held on Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 11:00 AM at St. Basil the Great R.C. Church, 2300 Kimberton Road, Kimberton, with the Rev. Gary T. Pacitti officiating. Interment will follow in the Ss. Peter and Paul Cemetery, Springfield. Friends will be received from 10:00-11:00 AM at the Church. Memorial contributions may be made to the Penn Memory Center/Alzheimer's Disease Center. Please make payable to the "Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania," memo: "ADC-PMC" and mail to Penn Memory Center, Attn: Terrence Casey, 3615 Chestnut Street, Room 236, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Arrangements are being handled by the Campbell-Ennis-Klotzbach Funeral Home, Inc. Condolences may be offered online atwww.PhoenixvilleFuneralHome.com.