Today is the funeral and cremation of a good man. When I started writing this, I tried to think of more adjectives to describe Gary Burke. But none of them are better than "good man."
I haven't seen Gary often since 1965. He was one of my brother's best friends from Belleville, Michigan, in their early teen years and stayed close through the years. I sometimes saw Gary and his wife Linda when they visited Jim and Loretta. Always, without fail, his conversations centered around his children and grandchildren. I got the impression he was a very family-centered man.
For a few months, after he got out of the Army, in 1965, Gary was a frequent visitor at my house. My children, Tammy and Buddy,(6 and 7 at the time) adored him. In fact, Tammy insists he was her first crush and wanted to grow up and marry him. Gary developed a crush on me and I worried about "crushing" him when I gently explained my feelings toward him were very brotherly. Unforturnately, that ended his visits and I missed him horribly. I was so happy for him when he married Linda Jones...a younger sister of my own teen-age best friend, Helen.
My brother, Jim, is devastated. He went to see Gary just a week before he died of cancer. We planned to attend the funeral, but the weather has prevented that.
The world has lost one of its brightest lights and is a poorer place without Gary Burke in it.
Rest in peace, my friend.
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