Kathryn Burke

Kathryn Bryant Burke of Atlanta Georgia died on Sunday, March 3, 2013. She was the daughter of Louis Charlton Bryant and Mabel Hodges Bryant, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After a childhood in Savannah, Georgia, her family moved to Atlanta in 1930 and Atlanta has been her home for 82 years. She was preceded in death by her parents and a beloved sister, Louise Bryant Chatman and her husband of 50 years, John Alvin Burke, a native of Atlanta and World War II Air Force Veteran. With an early passion for art, she attended children’s art classes at the High Museum and later graduated from the High Museum School of Art in 1941, after attending Girls High School. Graduating in 1967, B. F. A., from the Atlanta College of Art and still later attending Oglethorpe University and the Emory University Graduate School of The Arts. Becoming a painter and instructor for the past 47 years in Atlanta, Gainesville, and Decatur, Georgia, and as Director of her own Studio/Workshop. Kathryn was a member of St. Anne’s Episcopal Church and she served in the Docents Guild at the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University. Kathryn and John A. Burke were married in February of 1944. John served in the Pacific in Guam until 1945. They enjoyed 50 years together, his art-form of photography, travels abroad, and a daughter and son they were devoted to. Kathryn was a devoted mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. Her love of Art, Nature, Music, and Poetry, and the Joy of Life were an inspiration to each member of her family. Kathryn is survived by a daughter, Dianne Burke Adams-Koehler of Chickamauga, GA and a son, John Michael Burke of Atlanta; grandchildren, Richard H. and Wendi Varner of Locust Grove, GA, Kathryn Vaughn and Edgar Espinoza of Atlanta, Shawn H. Hill of Cumming, GA, and Christian Michael Burke of Las Vegas, NV; great-grandchildren, Richard Ray Varner, Emily and Greyson Varner, Olivia and Isabella Hill, and Nina Kathryn, Hallie, and Chloe Burke and Vanessa Vaughn Espinoza; two beloved nephews, Sidney C. Chatman of Yorkville, IL, Mark Shugart of Newnan, GA; sister-in-law, Nan B. Harper; and niece, Peggy Smith Shugart. Memorial services will be announced at a later date.