Sharon Dee Burke

Sharon Dee Burke, 82, of Gainesville, Sharon was born April 27, 1941, in Newton, Kansas. Her schooling through high school was in Derby, Kansas. She was an active participant in school activities, heading the yearbook committee her senior year. She was also actively involved. with the youth group at the Derby Presbyterian Church beginning her lifelong faith journey. She took her nurses’ training at Wesley Hospital in Wichita, Kansas.

The new nurse and Lance Corporal Charles Burke were married August 18, 1962. They honeymooned at the Seattle World’s Fair, and she began work in the emergency room at the Lawrence, Kansas hospital. Over the twelve Marine Corps years following Charles’ graduation from the University of Kansas, Sharon moved. eleven times. Cheryl was born at the Quantico, Virginia Naval hospital in 1964 and Kelly at Reynolds Army Hospital, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in 1967. The next 25 years were based in Middletown, Rhode Island while Charles worked for Raytheon Corporation. Spiritual life was based at First Presbyterian Church, Newport, RI. Sharon worked at Newport Hospital, obtained a Nursing Home Administrators license and worked as the business administrator for a nursing home in Newport. She received her BS in nursing in 1980 from Salve Regina College in Newport. When her sister, Sharlot, was having a liver transplant in Kansas City, she suspended her nursing license and stayed with and helped care for her for several months.

Sharon completed the Master Seamstress course from the University of Rhode Island extension services and taught some courses there. She earned an Associate degree in accounting and worked for 2 accounting. firms. She was president of the West Side Association, a group formed which successfully opposed the building of a freeway through several Middletown neighborhoods. Sharon and Charles toured Russia, Greece, Italy, eastern Europe, and Turkey between 1990 and 1998. At the end of the Italy tour, an overnight train from Rome allowed a visit to see her 2-month-old granddaughter, Jessica, who was born in Paris. Upon retirement in 1999, Sharon and Charles moved to Georgia to be near their daughters and (more importantly) their, now two, granddaughters with Sophie having been born in 1996. First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville became the church home.

Sharon was pleased to discover a small, but active, prayer group which she joined as well as the Presbyterian Women and the BASIC Sunday School class. She served as Deacon providing congregational care and became a Stephen Minister. In 2001, Sharon made her final move into the house on Lake Lanier that she had designed. She visited Cheryl at Forman Christian College in Lahore, Pakistan with Charles in 2009 and with a group from the church in 2014. She was pleased to visit her Scottish roots in 2011 as a 50 th anniversary gift. Rheumatoid arthritis, numerous surgeries, accidents and falls limited her mobility. In later life, she joined the Lanier Women’s Club and enjoyed the activities, especially playing Mah Jongg. 

Sharon died quietly December 27, 2023, at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesville, Georgia, surrounded by loving family. She was preceded in death by her parents, Dwight and Jean McFarlane; sister, Sharlot VanDeest; and brother, Ken McFarlane. She is survived by her husband of 61 years, Charles Burke; daughters, Cheryl Burke and Kelly Toscano; granddaughters, Jessica Toscano and Sophie Toscano; great-granddaughter, Harmony Grace Poe; nieces, TashaMcFarlane, Robin Pulis, Kimberly Stimpson, Tamara Potter, and Susan Bacon; nephews, Roy VanDeest and George Hammond; and their families.

Memorial services will be held Saturday January 6, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at First Presbyterian Church of Gainesville. The family is asking, if you wish to, that, in lieu of flowers, contributions be made in her honor to Friends of PEB, P.O. Box 72453, Thorndale, PA 19372 or online at www.friendsof peb.org

Those wishing to send online condolences to the family may do so at littledavenport.com

Little & Davenport Funeral Home and Crematory, 355 Dawsonville Highway, SW, Gainesville, Georgia 30501 is in charge of arrangements.

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