[Bristol-Birds] BBC founding member Ed Burke passed away Thursday

From: "Wallace Coffey" <jwcoffey@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: "Bristol-birds" <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, 17 Jun 2011 18:28:23 -0400
      Edward Walter Burke 
     

      Dr. Edward W. Burke, Jr., 88, the oldest and longest active member of the 
Bristol Bird Club, passed away Thursday, June 15, 2011.

      Dr. Burke was a charter member of the Bristol Bird Club when it was 
organized in 1950 on the campus of King College in Bristol Tennessee.  He 
remained active with BBC, attending meetings, picnics and Christmas parties. 

      He was a former Professor and Vice President of King College

      Dr. Burke was preceded in death by his parents, Edward W. Burke, Sr. and 
Lora Waterman Burke, and a grandson, William Edgar Torbert. He is survived by 
his wife, Julia Struby Burke; a son, Edward W. Burke, III of Warrenton, VA; a 
daughter, Julia Burke Torbert, and her husband, Edgar C. Torbert, and a 
grandson, Samuel Burke Torbert, of Tucker, GA.

      Visitation and a celebration of life service will be held at State Street 
United Methodist Church, Bristol, VA, on Saturday, June 18, with visitation at 
2:00 p.m. and the service at 3:00 p.m., with the Reverend Mark Hicks 
officiating. Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Harry Pipper Sunday 
School Class and the Bristol Evening Lions Club.

      He spent  more than 40 years not only mentoring students at King College, 
but also developing programming for the college that will have positive impacts 
far into the future. Recently, King recognized Dr. Burke's achievement with the 
announcement of an Endowed Chair in the Natural Sciences in his name. Among his 
many awards and achievements, Dr. Burke served as Fulbright Professor at the 
University of Chile in Santiago, Chile, and as a visiting astronomer with the 
Kitt Peak National Observatory and the Lowell Observatory in Arizona. He 
received the Pegram Award as the outstanding physics professor in the 
southeastern United States. He also conducted extensive research in astronomy 
on variable stars.


      Dr. Burke began his career at King College in 1949, teaching physics and 
astronomy. Many consider Burke the father of King's astronomy program. In 1950, 
with his guidance, astronomy students assembled a machine shop, and in 1952, 
they completed construction of the first King telescope. In 1957, he initiated 
the Moonwatch at King, an international satellite-observing program organized 
by the Smithsonian Astronomical Observatory to track the first man-made 
satellites  which the U.S. planned to launch in 1958-59.


      Dr. Burke was named Chairman of the Division of Natural Sciences and 
Mathematics in 1960, a position he held until his retirement in 1991. He also 
served the college as Vice President for Academic Affairs from 1977 to 1980. 
Upon retirement he was named Professor Emeritus.

      After the creation of King's first telescope, Dr. Burke invited students 
and the public to come to the college to view the stars, a tradition which 
continues today. The college's observatory, re-named for Dr. Burke in 1981, now 
houses a classroom and research space, as well as a reflecting telescope with 
an electronic camera that records digitized images.

      Dr. Burke was a long time member of State Street United Methodist Church 
where he served as a Sunday school teacher and was a member of the Missions 
Committee and Administrative Board. He was also an active member of the Bristol 
Evening Lions Club, serving in various offices and coordinating its annual 
broom sales. Dr. Burke was a founding member of the Bristol Astronomy Club and 
a founding member of the Bristol Bird Club and active in Sigma Xi.

      A native of Macon, GA, Dr. Burke entered the Navy V-12 program at 
Newberry College in July 1943. He attended the Notre Dame Midshipman School and 
was commissioned as ensign in 1944. He attended MTB (PT boat) School in 
Melville, R.I., in 1944, and then joined MTB RON 17 in the Philippines in 
January 1945 where he decommissioned PT boats at the end of World War II. He 
was also assigned to the minesweeper AM-316 before discharge to the Naval 
Reserve in 1946.

      Dr. Burke graduated magna cum laude from Presbyterian College, receiving 
his Bachelor of Science in mathematics in 1947. He received his Master of 
Science in physics in 1949, and his Ph.D. in physics in 1954, both from the 
University of Wisconsin.

      In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to King 
College for the Edward W. Burke, Jr. Endowed Chair in Natural Sciences.

      Condolences for the family may be sent and viewed by visiting 
www.Oakley-Cook.com. Arrangements especially for Dr. Burke and his family have 
been made through Oakley-Cook Funeral Home & Crematory.
[Bristol-Birds] BBC founding member Ed Burke passed away Thursday

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