Thomas M. Burke

Thomas Mehan Burke, died Tuesday, February 12, 2019 from complications during surgery. He was 77.

Tom is survived by his wife, Carson Burke, her three children, Jennifer Miera, Christian Oggel, and Hayley Oggel, his two sons, Jeff and Jon Burke, and five grandchildren. He is preceded in death by his first wife Diane Burke, and older brother Ed Burke.

Tom was born and raised in Sioux City, Iowa, with two older brothers, Ed and Bill, and younger sister Mary. He attended Blessed Sacrament Catholic School and Heelan Catholic High School. He briefly attended the University of Nebraska and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Morningside College. He served in Viet Nam for the Air National Guard's 57th Security Police Squad in 1969.

After college Tom worked alongside his two brothers, growing his father's businesses for the next few decades, including Hawkeye Building Supply, Standard Ready Mix, Burke Engineering, Custom Woodworking, and Tri-State Millworks.

He married Diane Lynn Magnuson on Oct. 24, 1970, and had two sons, Jeff and Jon Burke, both of Jackson, Wyoming. Diane passed on April 21, 1991, after a three-year battle of cancer.

Tom married Carson Debra Jenkins on Nov. 25, 1995, and the two divided their time between Sioux City, Iowa and Florida before moving permanently to Denver, Colorado in 2010.

In Sioux City Tom was an active member of the community. He was on the board for the United Way, Boys and Girls Club, Hospice of Siouxland, Planning and Zoning Commission. While living in Florida he joined the Bradenton Planning and Zoning Commission and Sarasota Hospice, and volunteered for the Birch Family Camp for families dealing with HIV and AIDS. Since living in Denver has volunteered for the Food Bank of the Rockies, as well as the VA Hospital, donating two days a week of service.

Tom was a life-long athlete who enjoyed just about every form of sport. He loved racquet sports, skiing, golf, biking, and was an avid runner who, while in his late 50s, twice entered a 30K trail run across the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming off-the-couch. He adored the historic rivalries of college athletics, and maintained an active lifestyle throughout his entire life.

He twice made a solo pilgrimage from Sioux City across the high plains of South Dakota to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to visit his sons via Harley motorcycle, summing up the collective experience in two short sentences. ""Those damn elk, boys. You don't want to hit one.""

Never idle, Tom attended the Denver University's extension program for the last several years, educating himself on current global affairs, including several courses on Middle Eastern studies.

Services for Tom will be held this coming Tuesday at 1 pm, Horan & McConaty Funeral Service, 1091 S. Colorado Blvd, Denver. A short reception will follow at the Burke home.

In lieu of flowers please send donations to Hospice of Siouxland, 309 Cook Street, Sioux City, IA 51103.

Celebration of Life: February 19, 2019 1:00 pm

Horan & McConaty - South Denver
1091 S. Colorado Blvd.
Denver, CO 80246