Kay Burke

1940 - 2025

Kay Burke
04/13/1940 - 07/28/2025
Kathryn "Kay" Burke passed away on July 28, 2025. For the past 50 years, she lived on Clay Street in San Francisco and was a beloved fixture in the neighborhood. She loved the energy and cultural diversity of the City and took her daily walk down the hill to Chinatown for her shopping and fresh vegetables. In her later years, she valued MUNI public transport to get back up the hill and to anywhere she needed to go in San Francisco. Kay was born in Portland, Oregon, and raised in Coos Bay on the Oregon Coast. She graduated from Marshfield High School as a distinguished athlete and modern dance performer. She went on to Stanford University, graduating in 1960 at a time when only 500 women were admitted each year. After college, Kay traveled throughout Europe and lived with a host family in Germany before moving to New York City, where she worked in university administration and student organizing at CUNY-a role for which she was a natural. Later she spent several years in Bellingham, Washington, not far from where her mother Alma had once been a one-room schoolhouse teacher in a logging camp. In the mid-1970s she returned to San Francisco to be closer to her sister Molly, her brother Bob, and her many nieces and nephews. Always politically active, Kay was a founding member of the District 3 Democratic Club of San Francisco and served for many years as Voter Registration Chair. She was well known for leading "The Ironing Board Brigade": She and her team would set up an ironing board "table" at the Ferry Building and other popular spots around San Francisco to register new voters. Kay was always the first to arrive - after all, it was her ironing board! She
helped thousands of people register to vote. A fierce supporter of progressive causes, Kay championed organizations such as the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the NAACP. She supported many Democrats in San Francisco but was especially fond of Barbara Boxer, for whom she campaigned tirelessly during Boxer's early years in the Senate. Kay was also open about her personal life and experiences. For more than 40 years, she was active in Alcoholics Anonymous, mentoring many women new to the program and building a strong community of friends there. Her love of the arts made her a regular at the DeYoung Museum and a devoted member of the American Conservatory Theater, where she frequently attended performances with friends. Having grown up on the Oregon Coast, she cherished cold-water swimming. Well into
her seventies she would take the MUNI bus to China Beach to swim, one of her favorite spots in the City. Kay was predeceased by her parents, Thomas and Alma Burke, and her sister, Molly. She is survived by her brother, Bob Burke, her many nieces and nephews, and a wide circle of devoted friends and neighbors. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the ACLU, NAACP, or a charity of your choice should you wish to honor Kay's memory. Kay was kind and strong. She spoke out against injustice, nurtured friendships across generations, and was deeply troubled by the current political climate in the country. Her generosity of spirit enriched San Francisco and touched countless lives. She will be remembered for her fierce independence, her generosity of
spirit, and her unwavering commitment to justice and community. She will be deeply missed by all who knew her.