Ronald Reed Burke

Ronald Reed Burke

With some family members present, “Ron” passed away at his home in West Seattle on Sept. 1, 2020 at the age of 89.

He was born in Bremerton on May 21, 1931 to Leon and Dorothy Burke. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Constance (Wallbom) Burke and his daughter Carolyn Hoppe-Denend and his son Lawrence Burke, plus 6 grandsons and 5 great-grandchildren. He graduated from the Univ of WA in Architecture in 1955. Then having finished the ROTC program at the U of W, Ron served a full-tour of duty in Korea with the U.S. Army from 1955 to 1957, with the final rank of First Lieutenant. (He was honored to put his architectural skills to use in leading a team of post-war re-construction efforts there in Korea.)

 Ron enjoyed his work as an architect and he also served as the editor of “The Sea Chest” from 2001 to 2017, sponsored by the Puget Sound Maritime Historical Society. (A number of his own articles, photos and illustrations of ships or maps depicting the voyage of ships or vessels are included in the quarterly publications). Mr. Burke had been an Eagle Scout in his youth and he enjoyed being the Assistant Scoutmaster of Troop 282 which met at West Side Presbyterian Church—where Ron served as an elder and Sunday School teacher for over 35 years. A “Celebration of Life” will be held at a later time---just a small gathering of family members was held in the meantime in remembrance of his life.