Dick Burke died on Saturday 3 December 2005. This last year he had been treated for kidney stones, and the treatment took many months of debilitation. Finally recovered from this saga, Dick had started attending his lodge regularly. He attended our last Regular Communication along with his son, Richard Burke.
Dick was taken into hospital on Sunday, complaining of pain in the back. It was apparently not a recurrence of the kidney problems, but an aneurysm, which ruptured and caused his death.

Rural Lodge conducted a Masonic funeral service on Wednesday evening, 7th December at Mortimer Peck Funeral home in Braintree. Reflecting the popularity of this prominent brother, the service was attended by a large number of Freemasons, as well as family

There are many reasons that we will remember Dick with especial fondness. He was genial and friendly, and his blue lodge was very important to him, although he was also extremely active in Masonic collateral bodies. He was very proud to have served as Master of pre-merger Rural Lodge as well as of the former Wollaston Lodge.

From The Patriot Ledger
Burke Richard Allen Sr., of Braintree, where he was a lifelong resident, unexpectedly, December 3, 2005, the beloved husband of Isabella M.(McLachlan) Burke to whom he had been married for 45 years. Devoted father of Bettina Burke-Clancy married to Joseph Clancy of Braintree and Richard A. Burke, Jr. of
Braintree. Loving grandfather of Joseph, Jake and John Clancy and Alisabeth Ann Burke. Brother of Robert N. Burke of Brockton, Joyce King of Quincy, Eva Annis of Rockland, Barbara Norris of Weymouth and the late Howard M. Burke and the late Marguerite Diaute, both formerly of Braintree.

A funeral service will be held at the Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree, 74 Commercial St., East Braintree, Thursday at 1:30 p.m. with the Rev. Michael Robertson and the Rev. Ernest B. Johnson, Jr. officiating. Burial will follow at Blue Hill Cemetery, Braintree. Immediately following the burial, there will be a reception at the Sons of Italy Hall, 161 King Hill Rd., Braintree. Relatives and friends invited. Visiting hours will be at the Mortimer N. Peck - Russell Peck Funeral Home, 516 Washington St., Braintree on Wednesday, from 2-4 and 7-9 p.m. There will be a public Masonic service at the funeral home Wednesday at 8 p.m. conducted by the officers and members of Rural Masonic Lodge, Quincy.
Memorial donations may be sent to the Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree, 74 Commercial St., Braintree, MA 02184 or to the Shriners Burns Institute, 51 Blossom St., Boston, MA 02114. Richard was born in Braintree, July 4th, 1935. He was extremely active in many organizations.

Dick Burke: A personal reflection.
By Wor Graeme Marsden

I felt very close to Dick Burke. Priscilla and I were probably Isabella and Dick’s last dinner guests at their house, just before Thanksgiving. Inevitably (and felicitously!) we closed out the evening in their furnished basement. Standing in pride of place is ‘Burke’s Bar’ - a full-blown bar with polished wood, mirrors and back-lighting, which Dick had constructed. Inevitably it was replete with libations, most of which formed a vast collection of Scotch whiskies. Dick and Isabella regaled us with tales of past parties at the bar, and Dick could tell you a story behind each Scotch bottle, each glass or pewter mug, and each knick-knack that adorned the bar. I well remember the Scotch Tasting that Dick conducted in the Upper Apartments at the Quincy Masonic Building. It was a well-attended occasion, and Dick needed no notes to talk on the various Scotches that were presented. We had talked of an encore performance, which alas, will not be.

Dick was effectively my Masonic mentor. He was drawn to me because he had investigated my application, but more likely because I am English and he was of Scots extraction. He delighted in telling jokes to me in which the Scot got the better of the Englishman, but all this “politically incorrect” joshing was done in excellent good humor. I laughed just as much when he told me the same joke twice, for his face was animated, and freighted with mock scorn. I will miss that.

As Monarch of Taleb Grotto, Dick had done a stellar job, as we had come to expect, but he had introduced an excellent practice that has continued to this day. Grotto meetings are held in the Lower Apartments in the Masonic building in Quincy, and had always been preceded by a Taleb Band concert. People had treated this time as an adjunct to the real meeting, and duly entered in ones and twos just in time for the dinner which followed the concert. Dick now provided wine and had people bring in platters of snacks. Overnight the ‘pre-meeting’ time became a busy and highly popular social hour. In itself it was a small logistical change, but it made a huge difference. It was just one of the myriad ways in which Dick made a lasting mark in the fraternity.
 
Freemasonry and family meant much to Dick. As Master of his lodge, Dick introduced a printed Newsletter, for he saw the burning need to keep brethren aware of what was happening in the lodge, over and above what could be published in the notice. Dick wrote stories that were printed in the old Wollaston and Rural newsletters. These stories were slice of life reflections from a purportedly dysfunctional Burke household, which were wryly amusing, and occasionally laugh-aloud funny. I well remember his thesis on the incredible ‘shrinking Masonic tuxedo’, and his account of trying to cope with the accumulation of junk in his house (which depended on who was calling it junk). Dick had given me permission to republish these wonderful stories – for they indeed deserve a wide audience. Look out for them in the e-Newsletter.
Ironically at our last meeting (at our December communication) - Dick had told me he was finally about to be connected to the cyberworld and that he looked forward to receiving our newsletter. Alas, something else that will not be. We truly will miss him.

From Rural Lodge Newsletter 4
8 December 2005