Sandra Hazen Burke

Sandra "Sandy" Hazen Burke, 85, of Glen Rock, New Jersey passed away peacefully on December 31, 2022. Born on September 10, 1937 to Myron and Barbara Hazen in Concord, New Hampshire, Sandy was the third of six Hazen children who spent their childhood in "The Only Henniker on Earth." Her siblings Sally, Billy, Danny, Sonia, and Lynda were her best friends and partners in crime.
Sandy graduated from Henniker High School in 1955 in a class of eight graduates. Sandy was athletic and enjoyed participating in tennis, basketball, and cheerleading. She was teeny in stature but feisty and gentle all at the same time. As she would say many times, good things come in small packages, and Sandy was living proof of that.
Sandy graduated from the University of New Hampshire in 1957 with a degree in Physical Education. By that time, the Hazens had moved from Henniker to Concord where Sandy began her teaching career. She lived at home with her parents and sister Lynda, who was ten years her junior. Sandy loved that time with her baby sister.
In 1960, Sandy was engaged to be married, but the strong hand of fate stepped in, and Sandy's path took a different turn. In 1961, Sandy moved from Concord to Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey to live with her sister Sally and her family. Sandy took a teaching job at Tenafly High School where lightning struck in the form of a handsome industrial arts teacher and football coach by the name of Bobby Burke.
Bob and Sandy married on June 27, 1964 and bought a little house on Valley Road in Glen Rock where they would raise their family and call home for the next fifty-seven years. Sandy adored her four daughters Kelly, Megan, Erin, and Kate. Every autumn Saturday, Sandy could be found chasing four little girls around a football field while Bob coached the Pascack Hills High School team. In the late 1970s when Bob took a coaching job at Glen Rock High School, Sandy could be found in the booth next to him filming the game. Sandy had a cool, black convertible that she was forced to trade in for a more practical car (that we nearly crashed into the brick wall of Kilroy's when she had to run in to buy milk). It was the first of many sacrifices Sandy made for her girls.
Sandy never missed a school or sporting event. She coached her girls' softball teams, stood on the sidelines for soccer games, proudly watched Central School dance recitals, and somehow managed to wrangle four kids at the Glen Rock Pool every summer. Sandy had a quiet, steady presence; always allowing her children to be the center of attention, rather than take the well-deserved spotlight for herself. She was always there for her girls and this will be missed the most.
Sandy was an avid card player, and a night of cards with her sisters was inevitably raucous, filled with lots of wine, strategy, and laughs. Sandy loved watching football with Bob and was a huge UConn basketball fan. She was quietly intelligent and would surprise her family with how many Jeopardy answers or Trivial Pursuit answers she knew.
Sandy returned to teaching in the early 1980s as the Phys. Ed. teacher at St. Catharine's in Glen Rock. Sandy adored her students, and the feeling was mutual.
Bob and Sandy retired in the mid-1990s and after forty years in New Jersey, the girl from Henniker got her wish to return home to New Hampshire. Since that time, Sandy and Bob have split their time between Glen Rock and Contention Pond, where they spent warm weather months each year. Sandy was a New Englander at heart and loved returning to her roots every spring.
Sandy's greatest joy was her ten grandchildren: Noelle, Liam, Maggie, Marissa, Katie, Brendan, Ryan, Danny, Azy, and Bobby, who had the best Grammy ever. Grammy doted on her grandchildren, who loved "Grammy play dates" filled with play-doh, games, and baking "little things." Sandy is survived by her loving husband of fifty-eight years, her four daughters, sons-in-law Sean and Matthew, ten grandchildren, five siblings, as well as numerous nieces, nephews, friends, and neighbors. To say that she will be deeply missed is the greatest understatement of all.
Visitation will be held on Friday, January 6th from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm at Vander Plaat Funeral Home in Wyckoff, New Jersey. A funeral mass will be held on Saturday, January 7th at 10:00 a.m. at St. Catharine's Church in Glen Rock. Donations can be made to the National Kidney Foundation: www.kidney.org.
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