Clelia Chiurato Burke

1928 - 2025

Clelia Chiurato Burke
April 1, 1928 - August 30, 2025
Clelia C. Burke, a resident of Greenwich, Connecticut, passed away on Saturday, August 30, 2025. She was 97 years old. Clelia was a list maker, a problem solver and an advocate for thank-you notes and a big believer in higher education. She had a keen eye for fashion, a great sense of style, and the uncanny ability to turn challenging situations into positive outcomes. She loved entertaining in her home. She will be missed by family and friends.
She was born on April 1, 1928, in Scarsdale, New York, the daughter of Luigi Chiurato, a restaurateur in Manhattan, and Iris Beltramini Chiurato. Following the closure of their restaurant, Maison Louis, the family relocated to White Plains, New York, and then to Milford, Connecticut. There, as a teenager, Clelia helped run the general store they owned while pursuing her education at Milford High School. She entered Milford High School in her sophomore year, with no friends in her new town. Yet in her senior year, she was voted Best Personality and Most Popular by her peers. When asked how she achieved these titles, she said, "I just made an effort to say 'hi!' to everyone."
She was the president of the drama club, the class treasurer, and co-captained the cheerleading squad. Her fashion sense was evident in her work with the cheerleaders. Long pants and sweaters were the official uniform, but Clelia wanted a more modern look for the team. She selected a pattern for a smart, pleated skirt and enlisted the help of the cheerleaders' mothers to sew the new uniforms. Years later, clothing patterns would be integral to her career.
Clelia graduated from Larson College (later Quinnipiac) with a degree in fashion merchandising. She then moved to Manhattan and landed a job as a jewelry assistant at Bergdorf Goodman for a modest $28 per week, which was insufficient to support herself in the city. Determined to make a living there, she found work at Seventeen magazine as a retail coordinator. There, she also became the advice writer for the incoming letters from young female readers, "because no one else on the staff was willing to do it." Later, she went to work for Simplicity Patterns, where she rose through the ranks to the position of publicity director. She ended her professional life as a vice president at SlimFast Foods, where she worked for 19 years and moved with the company from New York City to Palm Beach, Florida.
In between the book ends of her work life she held many titles: Assistant Retail Coordinator Seventeen Magazine, New York; Assistant Merchandising - and eventually Publicity Director - Simplicity Pattern Co., Inc., in New York City; Director of Community Relations at J.H.Harvey Inc. in White Plains, NY;Director of Public Relations at Freedman's of Southport in Southport, CT; Real Estate Associate at R.F. Brooks, Inc. Realtors in Greenwich, CT; and Interior Designer at Bloomingdale's in Stamford, CT.
She met her future husband, Frederick Alden Burke, in New York City. They were introduced by her older brother, Louis. They married on March 17, 1952, at St. Thomas More Church. They started a family in the city and eventually moved to the suburbs, with Clelia leaving her career for a bit to raise her children. They lived in Larchmont and Mamaroneck, and then settled in Riverside, Connecticut, until all four of their sons-Pearson, Jay, Louis and Garvin-were in college.
During the process of raising four active sons, Clelia and Fred had an amicable divorce.
In the mid 1970s, a severe winter storm swept through Greenwich, blanketing the town in heavy snow. Jay was watching TV in the family room when he heard a loud crash. A pine tree had snapped in half, landed on the roof and crashed through the ceiling. Jay, who was not hurt, cautiously climbed underneath the tree limbs and made his way to the bottom of the stairs. He called up to the second floor, where everyone was sleeping, to alert the family that a tree had fallen on the house.
"Well, now we can finally get that skylight I have always wanted!" Clelia quipped, knowing that probably no other house in the neighborhood had that desirable architectural element yet.
That was Clelia: Always ahead of the style curve, always ready to make the best of any situation.
After retiring from SlimFast Foods, Clelia moved back to Greenwich. There, she maintained her extensive social activities and joined At Home In Greenwich. She loved leading trips into the city to tour museums, attending the MET Live performances at select movie theaters and sitting in on lectures at the Historical Society in Cos Cob.
Clelia had a lifelong love of travel. For her 90th birthday, she took her sons and their spouses to Italy, visiting three cities-Venice, Rome, and Florence. The family celebrated her birthday at almost every restaurant they dined in. They also visited the birthplace of her father in the foothills of the Dolomites.
She is predeceased by her brother, Louis Chiurato, Jr., and her former husband, Frederick Burke. She is survived by her four sons: Pearson of Spokane, Washington, Jay of West Newton, Massachusetts, Louis of Boise, Idaho, and Garvin and his partner Kurt of Greenwich, Connecticut.
A service celebrating Clelia C. Burke's life with be held on Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025 at Nathaniel Witherell Chapel, 70 Parsonage Road, Greenwich, CT at 2 p.m.
In accordance with Clelia's final wish, her body has been donated to the Anatomical Gift Program for the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University for medical education and research.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to any of the following: The Mews, Phone: (203) 987-4224, Website: themewsingreenwich.org/donate; Friends of Nathaniel Witherell, Phone: (203) 618-4227, Website: friendsofnathanielwitherell.org; The Anatomical Gift Program for the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University for medical education and research. For more information on anatomical donations or to make a monetary donation in Clelia C. Burke's name, Call 203-582-6507 or write Mr. Jesse Gomes at the Anatomical Gift Program at 275 Mount Carmel Ave., Hamden, CT 06518.