The Reverend J. Daniel Burke

 R.I.P
 

August 30,1931-January 20, 2015
 

It is with a sense of life's bitter-sweetness that I wanted you all to know that Dan peacefully died in the early evening of Tuesday surrounded by his family. As many of you will already know, Dan's condition had been worsening over the summer. In August, Bill Hollinshead was kind enough to arrange for me to visit with Dan and Jo. The memory of that time together continues to stay with me. My reference to the bitter-sweet quality of this news captures the experience of feeling joyful, that for Dan, the suffering is ended while simultaneously experiencing feelings of sadness at the passing of a revered and much loved priest and pastor.                                                                                           

At St. Martin's, Dan is still very much present in the DNA of our community memory.  He was clearly a priest who was able to inspire a confidence in others to trust the reality of God's love. Even through the distance of time, as one of those who have succeeded him as Rector at St. Martin's, I see so very clearly Dan's legacy in the memories of the people for whom he was the right man, in the right place, at the right time.                                       

I know you will bear Dan's wife Jo and the other members of his family prayerfully in mind and upon heart at this time and in the days and weeks to come. I will communicate funeral arrangements as, and when, they become known.                                                 

prepared for us a dwelling place eternal in the heavens.

          (Preface for the Departed in The Book of Common Prayer)    

Mark+