Bruce Burke

Bruce Burke Bruce Burke, professor emeritus, Michigan State University College of Education, died Wednesday, August 10, 2011 in Sarasota, Florida. He was 77 and had recently suffered from declining health. Bruce was born September 23, 1933 to Charles and Esther (Plum) Burke in Akron, Ohio. He attended Howe Military School, Colgate University (1955), Union Theological Seminary, (Columbia University 1958), Syracuse University where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow (1963) and studied in Egypt as a Fulbright Scholar (1965). His career at MSU spanned 35 years in University College and the College of Education. As Director of Graduate Studies in Education Overseas and Assistant Dean for Outreach, Bruce traveled the world. He developed graduate education centers in France and Thailand that gave international educators access to MSU Graduate degree programs. In 1955 Bruce married Nancy (Dobson) McGilliard and they had three daughters, Anne (Pete) Morgan of Tucson Arizona, Abbie (Barry) VanDenBerg of Maitland, Florida, and Sarah (Jeff) Bates of Midland, Michigan, all of whom survive him. Bruce married Susan (Sly) Burke in 1983 and together they enjoyed a life full of friends and family (best met over great meals prepared by Bruce) and travel, especially many happy summers on Mykonos and in the South of France. Bruce and Susan moved to Sarasota in 2001 after his 1999 retirement from MSU and a brief period in Charlotte, North Carolina. In Sarasota Bruce was active in Friends of the Gulf Gate Library, continued to write and enjoyed wide correspondence with students, colleagues, and friends. In addition to his three daughters and wife, Susan, Bruce is survived by his sister, Judy Honeywell of Louisville, Ohio, six grandchildren: Katie and Jack Morgan, Evan and Claire Bates, Will and David VanDenBerg, niece, Karen (Kevin) Fetsko, nephew Charles (Michele) Honeywell and three grandnieces. The family asks that anyone wishing to make a contribution in memory of Bruce consider: Friends of the Gulf Gate Library, P.O. Box 19017, Sarasota, FL 34276-2017; or MSU College of Education Graduate Fellowship Fund (checks made payable to MSU) 513 Erickson Hall, East Lansing, MI 48824. Interment will be at Ottawa Hills Memorial Park in Toledo, Ohio, on August 27, 2011 at 11:00 a.m.