William John Burke was born November 8, 1941, in East Cleveland, Ohio, and passed away January 4, 2020 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Bill is the son of Donald John Burke and Elizabeth Jane Waelde Burke, both deceased. He is survived by his wife, Barbara Jean Young Burke, brother-in-law Chuck Young, sisters, Caroline Burke Kerr and Virginia Ann Young, nephews Jeffrey Wm. Kerr of Havana, Florida and Jim D. Kerr of Tulsa and great-niece, Emma Sinclair Kerr of Tampa, Florida.

He grew up in East Cleveland where he attended Prospect Elementary School, Kirk Junior High, and Windsor Mountain School in Lenox, Massachusetts. In 1957, the family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Bill attended Edison High School, the Northeastern State. After a year at college, fired by his love of fishing, he left school to manage his parent's Rock Creek Fishing Resort on Lake Hudson.

Bill met his wife Barbara, in East Cleveland, where she was living next door to his grandparents, with whom he frequently visited. He and Barbara were married August 13, 1964 in Pryor, Oklahoma.

He served in the Army from 1964 to 1966 doing a six-month tour in Germany. After his discharge, they returned to Tulsa where Bill went to work as a mechanical technician for Continental Industries (a company founded by his father and Roger Wheeler) where he worked until his retirement in about 2004.

They resided in Tulsa until 2015, when they moved to Gold Beach, Oregon. There, surrounded by lush forests and abundant wild life, they contentedly lived on a hilltop overlooking the town of Gold Beach and The Rogue River. Although they'd intended to live out their lives in Oregon, Bill and Barbara returned to Tulsa on December 19, 2019, deciding to resettle here because Barbara's health was declining and Bill felt they needed to be nearer to family and familiar health care.

Memorial Service, 2:00 P.M., Monday, January 20, 2020 at Memorial Park Cemetery Chapel, 5111 S. Memorial Dr. Tulsa, OK

Moore's Southlawn 918-663-2233