Jane Frances Burke

Jane Frances (Lyons) Burke, age 91, was born on August 12, 1929 and died April 23, 2021, in Laguna Hills, California. She and her deceased husband, Jack (d. 2016), moved from West Bloomfield, MI, to live in Laguna Woods, CA, about 15 years ago. Jane died in a small care facility, Joyful Home, where she received excellent care from Hernan, Gloria, Romeo, Jules, Brian, Ariane, Maan, and Ellen. Her children and grandchildren visited frequently (until the past 13 months of COVID) and stayed with their sister Anne and brother-in-law John Timossi, who offered great hospitality to all as well as devoted care of our mother/grandmother. Mom was most comfortable and loved by you all.

Jane was born in Detroit, MI, to Edwardine (Peabody) and Francis (Frank) Lyons. She went to school in Detroit, Wayne, and Trenton. Jane earned her R.N. degree from Detroit Mercy and went on to finish her B.A. degree in English Literature at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI. It was there that she met her husband, Jack Burke, who was also attending WMU on the Army Airforce G.I. Bill shortly after the end of World War II. They married in January of 1954, and within the next 12 years they had 9 children: Peggy (Randy) Holtzman of Ann Arbor, MI; Bob (Lori) Burke of McKinney, TX; Sue (Tim) Curry of West Bloomfield, MI; Anne (John) Timossi of Aliso Viejo, CA; Mike (Sally) Burke of Washington Twp., MI; Barbara (Mike) Fabyan of West Bloomfield, MI; deceased son James (Shannon) Burke and Dave Bernards of Portland, OR; John (Bonnie) Burke of Grand Rapids, MI, and Tom Burke of West Bloomfield, MI. Cuc (Long) Tran and Thang (Trang) Nguyen from Vietnam joined the family in 1979.

Jane is also survived by 29 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren.

The visitation will be held from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm on Sunday, May 2, 2021 at Elton Black & Son Funeral Home, 1233 Union Lake Road, White Lake, MI 48386. A prayer service with the rosary followed by memory sharing will begin at 6:00 pm.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11:00 am on Monday, May 3, 2021 with a visitation in the church from 10:00 am to 11:00 am at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 9086 Hutchins Road, White Lake, MI 48386.

An outdoor luncheon will follow the funeral Mass at the home of Susan and Tim Curry, 3311 Oakleaf, West Bloomfield, MI 48324.

The family requests, in lieu of flowers, that donations be made to the St. Luke’s N.E.W Life Center of Flint, MI, a faith-based community center providing services for women and their families in Flint.

For those unable to attend the funeral, a livestream link will be available from St. Patrick Church at: stpwl.org. The second paragraph after the “Welcome” message on the home page is “Live-stream (press play to access videos).” The website will have “Jane Burke’s Funeral Mass” available 5 minutes before the 11:00 am Mass begins (Eastern Time Zone).

COVID safety restrictions are in place for those who attend the Mass. Face masks are required, along with social distancing of small groups of families in the pews, with every other row roped off.