Longtime Ajijic resident Edward M. Burke died in Seattle, Washington on September 30 at the age of 82.
Born June 17, 1930 in New York City, Burke was raised in England but returned to the United States following World War II. He met his future wife Betty (whom he always referred to as his “soul mate”) in New York when she was just 13 years old. He married her five years later.
Burke earned a degree in Fine Arts at the City University of New York. Following his service in the U.S. Army, the couple moved to Seattle, where he completed a degree in architecture at the University of Washington.
The couple lived in the Seattle area for 46 years, where Ed was president of The Burke Associates, Architects and Planners, Inc. He pioneered citizen participation planning concepts and served as the master planner for Washington State University for 13 years.
Burke was elected president of the Seattle Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1971 and a member of the American Institute of Architects College of Fellows in 1992.
In 1980, he redeveloped the historic Nippon Kan Theatre in Seattle and fostered a renaissance of Japanese-American culture. The emperor of Japan conferred the Order of the Sacred Treasure on Burke, an honor he shared with his wife.
The Burkes retired in 1994, sold their residence and drove a small motor home throughout the United States, Canada and every state in Mexico. They spent six months of each year in Ajijic, where Ed joined the Ajijic Society of the Arts and enjoyed the admiration of all who saw his exquisite watercolor paintings.
While caring for his wife in her last days, Burke wrote and published “Seattle’s Nippon Kan, the Discovery of Seattle’s Other History,” documenting an untold segment of Asian American history. The book is dedicated to Betty Burke’s memory and is available in the Lake Chapala Society library and on Amazon.com.
Burke is survived by daughters Lind Broderick and Allison Auld and seven grandchildren: Andy and Bob Reed, Anika and Rebecca Auld and Keegan, Kallum and Korry Broderick. His daughter Sheila Siobhan and granddaughter Shannon Lewis pre-deceased him. Ed and Betty were very happily married for 59 years. She passed away on December 25, 2010 in Ajijic.
No local memorial services are planned but you can have a look at Burke’s body of watercolor work on his website at www.edburkewatercolors.weebly.com.