JACK BURKE SOWARDS
March 18, 1929 - July 8, 2007



Sunday, July 08, 2007
MORPHINE AND CHOCOLATE
My father has been ill for quite some time. As many of you know, I moved in to his house to care for him for several months, until my sister took over those duties in February. He was suffering from chronic obstructive pulminary disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease).
He finally let go early this morning. He went peacefully, with no pain. Penny was periodically spooning chocolate sorbet onto his tongue so he'd pass away with the taste of chocolate in his mouth.
Hence the title of this post.

Thanks to all of you who gave us your words of support and encouragement these very difficult past few weeks.

http://catharinechronicles.com/2007/...chocolate.html

Connie Donette McLain Cates
July 9, 2007

Connie Donette McLain Cates, 50, of Wichita Falls, went home to be with her Lord on Sunday, July 8, 2007, after an extended battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease).

The funeral service will take place Tuesday, July 10, 2007, at 2 p.m. at the First Baptist Church of Grandfield, Okla., with Pastor Tim Owens officiating. The interment will be in the Memorial Cemetery in Grandfield, Okla., under the direction of Gray Funeral Home of Grandfield.

A visitation will be held from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Monday evening, July 9, 2007, at the Gray Funeral Home of Grandfield, Okla.

Connie willingly and lovingly devoted more than 20 years of her life as an early childhood specialist in the Texas public school system in Vernon, Wichita Falls, Round Rock, and Burkburnett, among others. She was the first of two children born to Don and Virgie McLain, and she grew up in Grandfield surrounded by family and rowdy friends. In 1974, Connie graduated from Grandfield High School as valedictorian and later graduated cum laude from Midwestern State University, demonstrating the natural intelligence that her son desperately hopes is genetic. In 1975, that son, Zackary McLain, was born, and Connie spent the rest of her life raising, supporting and loving him.

Survivors include her son and her parents, along with her brother, Randy McLain and wife Debi; nieces, Donette Coker and husband Ben, and Ade McLain; nephew, Jordan McLain and wife Heather; grandnephews, Zeke and Eli Coker; and grandniece Selbie Gonzalez. But that's only a partial list. The number of family and friends who loved Connie and were loved back is too great to print here.

The family would also like to thank Hospice of Wichita Falls for their kind and generous help over the past several months. The staff there provides a service that cannot be measured.

The family asks that memorial contributions be made to Hospice of Wichita Falls, 4909 Johnson Rd., Wichita Falls, Texas, 76310.

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.grayfuneral.com.

Memorial for Jerry Hallberg

July 9, 2007
Chelsey Schell

Last week the Fairbanks community lost Jerry Hallberg due to complications of ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease.

This past May Newscenter 11's Chelsey interviewed Jerry's wife Pam to find out what it is like to live with ALS and the Newscenter has previously talked with Jerry for the MDA Telethon.

Jerry was diagnosed with ALS in 2005.

His memorial is set for next Friday at 7 p.m. In the Friends Community Church on 30th Avenue.

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recently informed that Sister Philomena, who taught fifth grade at OLV Elementary School, died on May 15, 2007, in Lafayette of Lou Gehrig's Disease. Sister Philomena was 82.

Disease Killed Him, But People Say He Beat It

By YVETTE C. HAMMETT The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jul 10, 2007





RIVERVIEW - Even while lying in a hospital bed at home, unable to move or speak, David Barker held on to his spark, said his wife, Becky, and their close friends.

Just recently, he had neighbor Jovan Hyde playing "Name That Band" as he played audio clips from some of the 1,000 songs on his computer, using his big toe to move the mouse and switch from one song to another.

"He sometimes called me the Jovanator," Hyde said Monday, recalling Barker as a man with a great sense of humor. He was her neighbor for 11 years in the Lakes of Cristina subdivision.

"He had a funny name for just about everyone," his wife interjected.

Barker, 46, bedridden for the past 10 years, died quietly Friday after living with Lou Gehrig's disease for some 15 years. His family and neighbors were standing near his bedside at South Bay Hospital.

The former Boeing avionics technician, born and raised in Jacksonville, left a lasting impression.

"I'll never, ever in my lifetime have another person in my life with that special relationship," next-door neighbor Shelley Grable said Monday. "Knowing him and loving him and being part of his life, it's the trite thing to say 'Don't take life for granted,' but that's what it was about."

Barker was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at age 31, a little more than a year after getting married. The disease is an incurable neurodegenerative illness that eventually paralyzes all the body's muscles.

Barker never lost his sense of humor or his zest, his wife said.

"I've gotten phone calls from so many people who say he touched their lives," Becky Barker said. That included people he never met but who read about the Barkers in The Tampa Tribune in March.

"He always had a way of drawing people in," said Scott Stephens, who served in the Air Force with Barker and remained a good friend. "He had a quick wit."

Barker, a 1979 graduate of Samuel W. Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, served four years in the Air Force at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa and at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

He worked for Boeing Co. in California for eight years before moving back to Florida, where he worked for GTE in Tampa.

DAVID CLARK BARKER
BORN: April 15, 1961

DIED: July 6, 2007

SURVIVORS: His wife, Becky; mother and father, John and Christine Barker; and brother, John Glenn Barker

SERVICE: A graveside ceremony is set for 11 a.m. Wednesday at Green Lawn Cemetery, 4300 Beach Blvd., Jacksonville.

Reporter Yvette C. Hammett can be reached at (813) 657-4532 or yhammett@tampatrib.com.

Farewell to Coach Stanley
By Mike Hixenbaugh

Record-Courier staff writer

WINDHAM -- During the last three decades, some of Jeff Stanley's favorite memories were recorded on the floor of the Windham High School gymnasium.

Consider his part in a championship run as a teenage basketball standout in the late 1970s along with the thousands of hours he dedicated to coaching the youth of his community, and you'll understand why.

For those same reasons, it was fitting that Mr. Stanley said his final farewell from the center of Windham's Marty Hill Court.

Mr. Stanley, 49, died Thursday after a 14-month fight against Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Monday, more than 300 family, friends and community members packed the gymnasium to say goodbye. Very few of them left without shedding tears.

"It's obvious from yesterday and today that I am just one of thousands of Jeff's friends," Marty Sterpka said during the service Monday.

Sterpka, who considers himself a lifelong friend of Mr. Stanley, encouraged his four children.

"To you kids, hold your heads high and walk proudly because you are Jeff's children," he said. "And when you reach milestones, like graduations and weddings, know your dad is beside you, beaming with joy."

Sterpka tried to explain how lucky he considers himself just to know a man like Mr. Stanley -- a man who volunteered countless hours coaching; a man who willingly sacrificed his own comfort to serve his community; and a man who did everything in his power to share his love for life.

Mr. Stanley's wife of 24 years, Louie Stanley, also stepped forward to share a few words. Shaken by tears, Louie read two letters of thanks from a couple of Mr. Stanley's former athletes.

"Having an impact on kids meant so much to Jeff, so I know he would have wanted me to read these," she said.

The letters were littered with praise for a man who was admired and respected by hundreds in the community.

A few more members of the Stanley family stepped forward to share kind words and stories. Inspired by his father's advice to live with no regrets, Kyle Stanley stood to speak after previously planning to remain silent.

Kyle, the Stanley's youngest son, was overseas serving in the military when he heard about his father's diagnosis last May.

"I told him I would come home if he wanted me to, whatever he wanted," Kyle said. "But he told me, 'I just want you to be a good soldier.' So I told him, the whole time me crying like a little girl, that I would do that as long as he did the same for me. I told him, 'you be my soldier, dad.'"

For more than a year, Kyle called whenever he could to see how his father was progressing. The disease moved faster than expected, according to doctors, eventually leaving Mr. Stanley physically disabled and unable to speak. Still, Kyle continued to call hoping for good news. Each time, at the end of the conversation he'd ask his father, "how are you doing, are you still being my soldier dad?"

"And until the time when he wasn't able to talk, he would say, 'yes,'" Kyle said. "And when it reached the point when mom had to hold the phone to his head, I'd ask him ... and he'd grunt or give me some indication that he was fighting.

"That was our way of saying we loved each other."

Occasionally pausing to choke back streaming tears, Kyle offered a final message to his father.

"Dad, I just want to tell you that you're still my soldier and I love you. You put up a good fight."

Turning to the audience, Kyle continued, "And he did. He fought for all of you. He always said, 'work hard, play harder and love unconditionally.' That's how he lived and I wanted to tell you that because I don't ever want to regret not coming up here and sharing my peace about my father, my hero, and my soldier."

Following the service, Mr. Stanley was buried at Windham Township Cemetery where hundreds of family and friends said goodbye to a man known best by those who loved him, simply as, "Coach."

Uncapie Says Good Bye To Jack B. Sowards, WRATH OF KHAN Scripter



Hey, I'm Uncapie...

Gifted storyteller and screenwriter, Jack Sowards, passed away of Lou Gehrig's Disease at 78.

He was my mentor. He was my friend.

Born in Texarkana, Arkansas on March 18, 1929, Jack was one-of-a-kind.

As a child, he was involved in all things most boys like. Climbing trees, running through fields, swimming in the local lake and excelling at sports. Even playing tennis with his buddy; a future multi-billionaire, named Ross Perot.

But, one summer he contracted a rare lung disease and was bedridden for almost a year.

He discovered books and writing.

After, high school, he enlisted in the army and participated in the Berlin Airlift making sure that the destitute and poor had food during the Allied reconstruction in 1949.

After his service was up, he enlisted in the Navy because he wanted to see more of the world.

Three years later, he entered the U.S. Air Force and became a chief mechanic on F-86's. Some of the aircraft he worked on were used in the film, "The Hunters" with Robert Mitchum and Robert Wagner.

With enough service to his country behind him, he wanted to see the United States next.

He became a field worker picking crops wherever the job took him. Sometimes it was vegetables, cotton or wheat. He learned a lot about the United States and its people.

His journey led him to Hollywood and supported himself as a photographer and a furniture mover with a then unknown actor who would inspire many of us in a film called, "Robinson Crusoe On Mars." That actor was Paul Mantee.

He'd hang out at the soda fountains at the now defunct and legendary Schwab's Drugstore and Googie's taking turns buying cokes and burgers with the other actors named James Dean and Dennis Hopper.

Through Dennis, Jack decided to try out for a part in the San Diego Playhouse production of, "Othello." He got the part of "Iago" and played along side Dennis and another up-and-coming actor named, Michael Forrest to rave reviews.

Critics loved his delivery and the constant rubbing of his left hand with his right thumb when he was plotting evil was thought to be a great device on stage. But, with Jack, there was always a story. Dennis Hopper had run his rapier through Jack's left hand during rehearsals and he needed stitches because of it. Rather than bandage it up and tell the stage manager for fear of losing the job, he threw a little make-up on it and continued with all the performances. It wasn't that he was rubbing his hand as a plot device; it was because it hurt like hell!

After the play ended, so did the money coming in. With a wife and a baby on the way, Jack went back to moving furniture.

But, as luck would have it, he ran into the late producer/director Burt Topper who needed an actor to film two movies at American International Pictures.

Those two films were "Tank Commandos" shot on the old M-G-M backlot European town sets and "Hell Squad" filmed out in the Mojave desert.

Jack portrayed radioman, "Private Todd" who was the whiner in a group of tough G.I.'s sent in to destroy a bridge. The total budget of the film was $75,000.00 shot in eight days.
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Sowards on a video cover.




In "Hell Squad," he was a German soldier posing as an American because he could speak a smattering of German. Not only did he act, he also did many of the special effects. That was a budget of $50,000.00 shot in five days.

It was at this time, he decided to be a writer. He wrote five scripts for television and only one was purchased for the series, "Daniel Boone" starring Fess Parker.

But, one was all he needed. He had talent and people recognized it.

He then wrote for "Bonanza," "The Bold Ones" and the "High Chapparal" with a smattering of other scripts that were bought for tv shows, but were never filmed.

I was fortunate to read his script for "Combat!" and it would have been one of the best episodes next to "Hills Are For Heroes." Jack Sowards had the gift of writing.

Years later, the acting bug would bite him one last time where he played the town cop on the TV series, "Peyton Place" while writing movies-of the-week such as "Deliver Us From Evil," "Death Cruise" and a western called, "Desperate Women." He was also nominated twice for an Emmy for his work.

He then became story editor on "Streets Of San Francisco," "Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer" and "B.L. Stryker."

He taught screen writing classes at Santa Monica College and UCLA. This is where I met him and he taught me to write. I was the only one who got an A in a class of twelve.

Years later, he would always joke with me saying, "Of course I gave you an 'A.' I felt sorry for you for writing that ******** 'Battlestar Galactica' script."

Swell. I think he just used to do it to get a kick out of me turning red of embarrassment.

It was last week though, his daughter presented me with a short story I wrote that I had long forgot about in his class. Out of all the years he had taught screen writing and all the scripts and short stories he had to grade; mine was the only one he saved. It was a very heartfelt moment. It now rests in a frame over my desk.

I asked what he was working on next. "Its a space western. You'll like it." But, he'd never tell me what it was.

It was "Star Trek II: the Wrath Of Khan." The best, by far, of all the "Trek" movies and it was typed on a computer that Jack had built himself when the Commodore 64 was thought of state-of-the art.

Jack went peacefully with his wife holding his hand. His family was there when it happened and I am very proud that I am a part of them.

He was a good man.

To sum up Jack Sowards, I quote a line from "Star Trek II: the Wrath Of Khan:"

"You will always be my friend, as I am yours."

Uncapie


http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33269

Brown, Joseph W.


Joseph W. Brown, Darboy, age 46, passed away at his home on Monday, July 9, 2007, following a long and courageous battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). He was born on March 29, 1961, in Appleton, the son of Carl and Rita (Bohmann) Brown. Joe married the love of his life Amy Coopman on October 31, 1987. They had three children together: Nicole, Andy and Spencer. Joe was employed for over 18 years at Kimberly-Clark as a Research Technician and most recently worked at Pheifer Brothers Construction as a Materials Lab Manager for 6 years before his illness. Joe was a loving father, a devoted Packer fan and a great admirer of both Vince Lombardi and Ray Nitschke. He loved the outdoors and his hunting trips to the Marshfield area in search of the big one. He greatly enjoyed a good game of Yatzee with any one who dared to challenge him. He was a perfectionist in the purist sense, and thought, "anything worth having is worth working for." He applied his skills to the building of a bridge over the creek in Darboy so the children going to school and church at Holy Spirit could take the short cut. His faith in his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was his anchor and sure foundation.


Joe is survived by his wife Amy, their three children: Nicole, Andy and Spencer; his mother Rita Brown, three brothers, Steve (Karin) Brown, Tim Brown, Bob (Linda) Brown, and one sister, Carla (special friend Candy Roth); mother- and father-in-law, Ronald and Dolores Coopman; sisters-in-law, Mickey (Dan) Walbrun and Denice (Bob) O'Connell, brothers-in-law, Dave (Patti) Coopman and Steve (Julie) Coopman; 14 nieces and nephews; and many other relatives and dear friends.


Joe was preceded in death by his father Carl.


A Mass of Resurrection for Joe will be held at Holy Spirit Parish at Holy Angels Church, Darboy at 11:00 a.m. Friday, July 13, 2007, with Tom Pomeroy and Fr. Quinn Mann co-officiating. Public visitation begins at 10:00 a.m. in Church. Relatives and friends may call at BOETTCHER FAMILY FUNERAL HOME, Kaukauna, on Thursday, July 12, 2007, from 4:00 p.m. with the Vigil Service beginning at 7:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, a memorial fund has been established to benefit his children's education. 920-766-2099.


Joe's family would like to thank the many, many wonderful compassionate friends and neighbors who offered so much assistance during his illness. Words cannot begin to speak of your unselfish kindness which will be forever remembered by them.


2 Tim 4:7-8, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing. NKJV

Longtime GHS headmaster John Bird dies in Florida

The country was at war and civil unrest was common, yet former educators still fondly recall John Bird's 11-year tenure as headmaster of Greenwich High School the "golden age of teaching."

"Creativity was a big thing," said Roy Blomster, 73, of Sanbornville, N.H., a retired teacher who headed the school's art department during the 1970s. "My friends, when they talk about it, it was like the golden era. It was never like that again after he was gone because people wanted to control things a little more."




John Nauman Bird, who served as headmaster from 1969 to 1980, died at his Fort Myers, Fla., home on June 30. He was 80 and suffered from ALS, a terminal neurological disorder commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Bird, who led the move from the old high school at what is now Town Hall to the larger new building on Hillside Road during the 1970s, championed the concept of giving students more freedom while expecting responsible behavior in return.

This idea of "freedom with responsibility," which became the school's mantra, was seen as novel yet risky, particularly in light of the Vietnam War and civil protests at other schools. But while the times may have been tumultuous, Bird kept those tensions from consuming GHS, primarily by engaging students and inviting their input, educators said.

"I came from another school where the kids were antsy, rebellious, challenging on everything," said Joan Lowe, a retired English teacher and school counselor. "Never with John Bird because he really respected kids and he really believed in freedom with responsibility. Around us there were kids who were sitting in, wanting creativity. At Greenwich High School, he encouraged creativity. He really encouraged respect."

During Bird's tenure, he implemented the concept of organizing students and staff around "houses," and instead of assigning students to study hall during free periods, Bird gave them the ability to congregate in the school's 1-acre student center.

"Each one would like to see different ways of looking at life and education and I think he gave us a lot of ways of trying new things and if we were successful, he would help us to continue and continue working in that manner," said Shirle Jankowich, of Old Greenwich, a retired art teacher. "He was just open about what we were doing. He moved around the school quite frequently so he knew what was happening."

While Bird welcomed student involvement at the school, he endeared himself to the staff by being open to their new ideas. Some teachers said they did their best work under his leadership.

"I always thought it was the golden age for both students and teachers," math teacher and swim coach Terry Lowe said. "It was certainly an exciting time to be an educator."

Lowe began the high school's now wildly successful water polo program during Bird's tenure. At the time, Lowe said the athletic department head did not support sponsoring what he believed to be another swimming program at the high school. But Bird encouraged Lowe to pursue the idea.

"He would just say, 'Branch out and do it,' " Lowe said. "As a result it developed into a true varsity program."

Blomster told a similar story of Bird encouraging him to build a darkroom after hearing students lament the lack of photography classes and a darkroom. Bird gave Blomster some money to buy a stainless steel sink and plywood to build a counter for a darkroom.

"From the seat of our pants, we got this thing going," Blomster said, crediting Bird's encouragement. "He was a special kind of person."

Bird was born in Hellertown, Pa., on Oct. 19, 1926. He graduated from Lafayette College and studied at Rutgers University and the University of Connecticut. He was a second lieutenant in the infantry during World War II, and married Claire Briggs of Trenton, N.J., and had three children.

Bird played professional baseball with the Washington Senators as a catcher before he decided to pursue teaching, his wife said.

"He just felt that he didn't have what he called a good arm to continue with baseball," Claire Bird said. "He had already had his teaching degree, which enabled him to step right into the classroom."

Bird worked first as a history and government teacher before becoming principal of Gilmore Fisher School in Ewing Township, N.J. Greenwich's then-superintendent, William J. Edgar, recruited Bird to town, hiring him as principal of Eastern Junior High School in 1965.

"It was very clear that he was being developed as the new headmaster while he was at Eastern," Terry Lowe said of Bird.

Bird's daughter, Valerie Streuli, a Norwalk resident who now teaches music at Central Middle School, said she remembers attending Eastern when her father was principal. One of his innovations at the school was the creation of a principal advisory board consisting of parents and students from all walks of life.

"It was something the students were really psyched about," she said.

After retiring as headmaster in 1980, Bird taught for several years at the junior high level, including teaching ninth-grade government at Central at the same time Streuli did.

Bird and his wife later retired to Florida but didn't stay put for long, traveling to six continents, missing only Antarctica, Claire Bird said. He also was active as an elder at the Presbyterian Church, singing in the choir, and enjoyed playing bridge and golf.

In addition to his wife and daughter, he is survived by a son, Christopher Bird, of California and a sister, Shirley Gad, of Fort Myers. He is predeceased by his eldest son, Jeffrey.

A memorial service will be held Aug. 18 at 4 p.m. at First Congregational Church on the Green at Park and Lewis streets in Norwalk. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to The ALS Association Florida Chapter, 3242 Parkside Center Circle, Tampa, FL 33619-0907 or Hope Hospice, 9470 HealthPark Circle, Fort Myers, FL 33908.

Jerome E. Hallberg

Jerry Hallberg died peacefully at home from complications associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on July 4, 2007, with Pam, his wife of 37 years, and daughter Jamie at his side. During his three-year journey with ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s disease, he showed his family and friends his character as a person of strength and courage. He will be remembered for his love of fly fishing and the great outdoors, for his humor, and as a humble and honest man who was a loving, caring, and giving husband, father, brother, uncle and friend. His humor and guidance are memories for his daughter and the many other young people that his life touched.

Jerry was born on Oct. 30, 1946, in Amery, Wis., and raised on the family’s 200-acre dairy farm in Balsam Lake, Wis., where hunting, fishing and trapping were a big part of his youth. The seventh of eight children, he was the first to be born in a hospital, and the last sibling to attend the nearby one-room schoolhouse before they all went to town for school. He graduated from Unity High School in 1964.

Jerry was in the Army from 1966-68 and had a one-year tour of duty in Vietnam in 1966-67 as a helicopter door gunner. Jerry married Pam Spaulding on Aug. 29, 1970, in Siren, Wis. They lived in River Falls, Wis. , where Jerry attended the university for the next four years. He was the first in his family to graduate from college. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in biology, Jerry and Pam sold most of their worldly possessions, packed up their newly acquired truck and in June 1974, drove to Alaska where they did not have jobs and did not know anyone, but they had youth, hope and optimism on their side.

Jerry had two short jobs with the tour industry and as a carpenter before he began working for the Alaska Department of Fish & Game in January 1975, landing his dream job as a sport fish biologist. Jerry had a 24-year career with the Sport Fish Division where he camped and fished on lakes and rivers across Alaska.

In 1977, the Hallbergs built their own log home on Risse Road outside of Fairbanks. In 1986, they built a cabin on the Salcha River where a lot of memorable family time has been spent during the past 20 years. In October 1987, Jerry and Pam were blessed with an addition to their family when their daughter Jamie was born. Jerry said the birth of their daughter had made his life complete. While working and being a parent, Jerry was also active as a volunteer at Jamie’s school going on field trips and volunteering when her Girl Scout troop needed help from dads.

Jerry, an outdoorsman, felt fortunate to have hunted, fished and trapped extensively while living in Alaska and had a great appreciation for all of God’s creation. He wanted to be remembered as a dad that played catch, was a master pilot of the tire-swing, taught one-match fires, and took his daughter camping, hunting and fishing.

After retiring, Jerry helped his friend Howie move the Alaska Fly Shop to its new location on University Avenue, then he helped unpack, and it evolved into his dream retirement job where he continued to build on his collection of fly rods and equipment. But that was halted when ALS stilled his hands.

Jerry was formally diagnosed with ALS in February 2005. He was the first Alaskan with ALS to attend the national ALS advocacy conference in Washington, D.C. in May 2005. He was also featured on a local segment of the 2005 Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon for ALS awareness. In spite of his illness, he continued to live life to the fullest and enjoyed each new day as he and Pam took a recent six-month tour of the Lower 48 visiting family and friends in their wheelchair-accessible van.

Jerry was a member of the Midnight Sun Fly Casters, Trout Unlimited, Ducks Unlimited, National Rifle Association, Tanana Valley Sportsmen’s Association, Alaska Outdoor Council, Salcha River Property Owners and the American Legion.

Jerry was greeted in heaven by his parents, Clarence and Helen (Larson) Hallberg, and his brother, Gary Hallberg.

Left to carry on until they are reunited in heaven are his wife, Pam, and daughter, Jamie, both of Fairbanks; brothers, Doug, Stu, Tom (Bonnie), and Gene, all of the Balsam Lake, Wis. area; sisters, Darlene (Dorance) Holmberg of Frederic, Wis., Bonnie (Oscar Venegas) Thoreson of Alhambra, Calif.; father- and mother-in-law, Earl and Arlene Spaulding of Balsam Lake; brother-in-law, Dave Spaulding of Fairbanks; Fran Hallberg of Plymouth, Minn.; many nieces and nephews; and a host of close family friends.

A celebration of life will be held on Friday, July 13, at 7 p.m. at Friends Community Church, 1485 30th Ave. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to: Kids Fishing, Midnight Sun Fly Casters, P.O. Box 81255, Fairbanks, AK 99708-1255.

Arrangements were by Fairbanks Funeral Home and Crematory.

Louis A. Burke Jr., 75, Phila. police officerBy Gayle Ronan Sims
Inquirer Staff Writer


Louis A. Burke Jr., 75, a retired Philadelphia police officer who raised five children with a sense of humor and social responsibility, died of Lou Gehrig's disease Tuesday at home in Mayfair.
He met his future bride, Rose Marie Morris, when he was an 11-year-old growing up in Kensington. When he was 16, Mr. Burke dropped out of the old Northeast High School, then at Eighth Street and Lehigh Avenue, and went to work in the warehouse at Sears.

"He didn't want to go to school anymore," said son Louis III. "He eventually went back and got his GED from Ben Franklin High."

In 1952, Mr. Burke married and six months later was drafted into the Army. He was in the Signal Corps in Germany before being discharged in 1954.

He returned to work at Sears until joining the Philadelphia Police Department in 1957. He started out as a beat cop in Germantown; he was a plainclothes detective in Family Court when he retired in 1976.

Mr. Burke and his wife founded the Catholic Youth Organization in the St. Hugh of Cluny parish in the 1970s, before they moved to Mayfair.

"They ran the program to keep teens off the streets," his son said. "They organized ping-pong, deck shuffle and sports teams for kids in the neighborhood, even if they weren't Catholic."

After retiring from the force, Mr. Burke became the director of the Hu-Catholic Federal Credit Union. During this time, he earned a Realtor's license and a private-investigation license.

When the credit union closed in the 1980s, he and a partner formed an investigation business dealing mostly with insurance fraud and divorce.

Mr. Burke opened his home to everyone and was known for his sense of humor.

"My dad did a dance called 'the worm' at everybody's wedding," his son said. "He lay on his back and his stomach, kicked his feet in the air, waved his hands and made everyone laugh."

Mr. Burke also was an inventor, of sorts.

"He cut a hole in a milk carton and used it for a plastic-bag dispenser," his son said. "He'd laugh and say, 'I'll bet you've never seen one of those before.' My mom still uses the same one he made decades ago."

Mr. Burke was consumed by attending events with his 11 grandchildren.

"He was calm and quiet as kids ran through his home," his son said. "He loved it."

After surviving prostate cancer in 1997, Mr. Burke was stricken by Lou Gehrig's disease in 2005.

"We knew he was bad when he stopped laughing at reruns of Everyone Loves Raymond," his son said.

In addition to his wife and son Louis III, Mr. Burke is survived by sons Thomas, Michael and Timothy; a daughter, Colleen Cowdrick; 11 grandchildren; and a sister.

Friends may visit at 7 p.m. tomorrow and at 8:30 a.m. Monday at John F. Fluehr and Sons, 3301 Cottman Ave. A Funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. at St. Matthew Church, Cottman and Battersby Street. Burial will be in Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Cheltenham.

Donations may be sent to ALS Association, Greater Philadelphia Chapter, 321 Norristown Rd., Suite 260, Ambler, Pa. 19002.



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Contact staff writer Gayle Ronan Sims at 215-854-4185 or gsims@phillynews.com.