Date of Birth:
Sunday, November 23, 1919
Date of Death:
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Age:
95 years old

Edmund C. Burke, M.D.

Edmund ‘Ed’ Charles Burke, MD of Rochester, Minnesota died peacefully of natural causes on Tuesday, May 13th after a brief admission to Mayo Clinic, St. Mary’s Hospital. Ed was 95 years old and was over the past years, lovingly cared for at home by wife of 18 years, Clarice.

Ed was born on November 23rd, 1919 in Fargo, North Dakota and frequently moved during his childhood until settling in St Paul and attended St. Thomas Military Academy. He attended the College of St. Thomas as an undergraduate and studied medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. During his military service from 1947-1948 he was the Chief of Outpatient Services at West Point in NY. His career at Mayo began in 1948 as a Fellow in Pediatrics and was invited as faculty in 1951 and joined the Emeritus staff after 34 years of service.

In his professional life as a Pediatric Nephrologist, Ed’s accomplishments were numerous. He contributed to over 100 publications while on staff of the Mayo Department of Pediatrics, was a Professor in the Mayo Medical School, sat on the Medical School Admissions Committee and represented Mayo staff on several Health Exchange Programs between the US and Russia, having become proficient in Russian language. Dr. Burke was President of the Irish-American Pediatric Society, Chairman of MN Pediatric Society, Delegate Chair of the American Academy of Pediatric Society (AAP) for 10 years and was the AAP delegate to the American Medical Association (AMA) for more than 15 years. His highest honor was receiving the AMA and AAP joint award for service to children, the Jacobi Award conferred to him in 1997 through the nomination of his peers. Dr. Burke was also dedicated to pediatric outreach and provided care to communities throughout Minnesota and the Dakotas supporting well baby clinics.

Writing was Ed’s passion and was recognized in the community for his ‘Healthy Kids’ column in the Rochester Post Bulletin advocating for the literacy of parents and others who care for children and teens. He was Editor-in-Chief of Minnesota Medicine, Editor of the Emeritus Quarterly Newsletter, on the Editorial Board for the Mayo Clinic Health Letter and co-authored “How to get from cradle to empty nest (without going crazy)”. His competency for writing this was in raising his nine children with his first wife of 51 years, Beatrice “Beebe” Burke.

Community service was also of primary importance to Ed, who through the years was a Scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts, taught Catechism for St. Johns parish, but central to his contribution to Rochester was the Rotary Club where he served as President and was co-founder of Rochester Rotary II and also wrote and edited the Moccasin Flower newsletter for some years. He rarely missed a Thursday meeting!

Many who knew Ed well will remember his wonderful sense of humor (and Torvald jokes), his love for telling a tale and performing skits, and his love for music; singing in the Rochester Chorale (and in musicals in his youth), playing the banjo, harmonica and the ukulele. His children also fondly recall his silly antics dancing around the house with his ukulele, playing banjo in the garage, and entertaining the pediatric patients in the St Mary’s pediatric ward with his own children in tow. He cherished his time at Lake Pepin, sailing, gardening, and working on cars with his sons. His reference to family events was marked by what automobile corresponded to that year!

Ed is survived by his wife Clarice, his sister Mary Schaaf of St Paul and his children Ed Jr. “Buzz” Burke ( Nancy) of Pagosa Springs, Colorado , Timothy (Sheila) Burke of Minneapolis, Jay (Kathy) Burke of Rochester, Kathy (Tim) Phillips of Sea Island Georgia, Margaret (Russ) Hinz of Rochester, and Mary (John) Uhlenhopp of Zug Switzerland. He has 10 grandchildren, 10 great grandchildren and an additional 4 grandchildren and 3 great grandchildren by marriage. Ed was preceded in death by his wife Beebe, and children Barbara, Patricia, and Thomas, and his brother John and sister Francis.

The memorial Mass will be at 10:30am Monday May 18th at St. Johns the Evangelist Catholic Church, Rochester, Minnesota. Visitation is from 9:30-10:30am. In lieu of flowers, memorials in his honor are preferred to the Mayo Clinic Children’s Research Center.

Macken Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements. Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com