Burke died of renal failure June 19, 2014, at age 88 in his Ruxton, Md., home.
An alumnus of the Gilman School, he graduated from Princeton after two years in the Army. After working for several years for Commercial Credit Corp., he and a Gilman classmate (who also had an avid interest in all kinds of woodworking) started a furniture-repair and refinishing business in the 1950s. They soon branched out into design, manufacture, and sale of customized furniture and a variety of other specialized wood products. Their customers included Baltimore-area hospitals and many other corporate and private clients.
In later years, Burke turned to building several dozen sailboats and powerboats. Design and manufacture took place not only at the company plant but also in Burke’s large and fully equipped home-basement workshop. The partners sold the business in 1987.
Burke married Dolores Frank in 1962. She died in 1987. He is survived by his son, William; his sister, Katherine Walker; and his two grandchildren.