Three years later, Thomas came back to visit again for our daughter Isabella's Bat Mitzvah, where I took this pic of my best friend & my wife.  It sounds corny but it's true: she loved you as much as I did, Burke.

This photo is from the first time Burke came to visit us in L.A., for our son Skylar's Bar Mitzvah.  He only stayed for a few days, but in addition to the service and the party we got to drive him around to see some the sights, which he really enjoyed, which was great!

Thomas & Skylar look down at what I can only surmise is the missing chopstick, which baby Skylar must have just dropped.  Thomas had endless patience with kids and if my wife and I and our son hadn't moved out of NYC about one year after this photo was taken, we would've tried hard to take advantage of his friendship by getting him to babysit for our son and then both of our daughters.  But thankfully they all got to spend some time with him in NY and LA.

Rest In Peace my Brother.

Both my Mom & Dad (of Blessed Memory) knew and loved Burke, which when you add my son and his sisters -- as well as my wife -- means he was loved by three generations of the Reiff family.  The funny part of this pic is that Skylar appears to be learning how to use chopsticks, which -- with my Dad and Thomas as the only adults visible -- is pretty hilarious.

More of the same, in the best way possible!

My oldest friend, Thomas, holds up a very young version of my son, Skylar.

I'm not sure what the game is but it's some map of the "Old World".  Thomas (RIP) is at the far left, staring down at the map, blocking most of James "Jimmy G." Garzillo's face, while Jimmy's little brother, John stands looking down near the center and the back of my head is on the right.  What I wouldn't give to go back and listen in on the conversation that day, in order to hear Thomas's voice.

Thomas (RIP) with Nora Larkin, my daughter Isabella "Izzy" Reiff, Dahlia Larkin, Mike Larkin, my son, Skylar, and down front in her athletic stance, my daughter Sarah -- who insanely enough now lives in a 5th floor walk-up in Hell's Kitchen.  Thomas loved kids and was great with kids.  In all the years I knew him, he was never particularly interested in playing sports but he never turned down the chance to play a sport of any kind.  I never tried to get him to play hockey but only because I never played it myself, and TBH if I'd asked I'm sure he'd have been up for it.  Funny since I wasn't thinking of this in advance but when I asked him to go skydiving with me to commemorate my first year as a Type-1 insulin-dependent diabetic -- a development that had crushed my dream of becoming an Army paratrooper -- he did not hesitate to sign on.  Together with Thomas Keller the 3 of us took a bus to a small airfield upstate, took a class, strapped on our parachutes, climbed into a small propeller plane, went up to 10K feet, hooked up our static-lines, climbed out under the wing and let go one-by-one.  As Mike Larkin -- pictured above -- recently remembered me telling him soon after: Burke jumped last but landed first.  Of course he weighed almost as much as the other Thomas & myself put together.  I'm pretty sure the part that made him happiest was after we were back safely on the ground it made for a great story to tell.  Which he did -- But he also went when back with me & Thomas Keller the next year to do it again.  In his own way, Thomas Burke was always the man.

Their big brother, Skylar, is missing from this pic, but Skylar -- like his sisters -- will always remember Uncle Burke, RIP.

Thomas plays BARD'S TALE on my family's Commodore 64, some time in the mid to late Eighties.  Thomas enjoyed virtually any game imaginable.  For many years we had the "Wednesday Night Club" which met at my family's house after weekly meetings of BSA Troop 173, to play poker, 500 rummy, Scrabble, etc.  We didn't only play games on Wednesday nights and if enough players were on hand and there was enough time available we'd play Risk -- or, on those rare occasions  when we could schedule 7 people for a whole day of gaming, we'd play the Mother of All Battles/Games: Diplomacy.  We also played D&D and Traveller (a sci-fi RPG), Call of Cthulhu (a Lovecraftian RPG), and my own favorite, historical miniatures.  BUT at a certain point we got sucked into Bard's Tale -- a computerized RPG set in a D&D like Medieval Fantasy universe.  Thomas, RIP, had a deep and abiding love of sci-fi, fantasy and -- above all other genres and mediums back then -- Marvel superheroes.

This pic shows the version of Thomas that I think people who didn't know him may have had of him back in the day: kind of a big guy... you probably didn't want to mess with him.  But the truth, as anyone who knew him would say, is that he was an incredibly kind, selfless, generous guy who would literally give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it, or even if he knew you wanted it for some reason.  He was also hilarious, usually in the most off-color (though not always obscene) way possible.  I met him around 1978 and I hate that I had to say goodbye to him for the last time in 2025, because that was way too soon.  I wish we could have spent more time together but I'm so grateful for the time we did spend together.  I'm also grateful my wife and our 3 kids all got to know him.  "Burke" is what my entire family called Thomas.  My Mom and Dad and my brother, and later my wife and kids too.  He did a lot of big favors for me over the years and I always tried my best to do the same for him.  Burke, I will miss you so much.  Thanks for being my friend.

Yes, Thomas is laying out clothes to dry -- or maybe folding up clothes that had just dried.  We got caught paddling in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River during a serious rain storm with choppy water and some real waves.  We made it to shore just as it the last of the sunlight was dying, did our best to pitch camp, ate some cold food and bedded down for the night.  When we woke up the sun was out.  We all thanked G-d in our own ways -- two Catholics (Thomas, RIP & Thomas) and one Jew (me) -- and went to work drying stuff out.

Thomas Burke -- May His Memory be a Blessing for all who knew and, like me, loved him -- and Thomas Keller, the other one of my two best friends.

Thomas and our two canoes, tied up at the shore, with the three of us about to climb in and head further East.  At least I think that's the route we took.  I think we parked our car to the East and then got a ride from the canoe rental outfit to the West, where we loaded up the canoes and actually put-in.  That way, when we finished up the trip and got out, we'd be closer to where we needed to be to just drive south back to NYC.

Due to delays on BritRail the 3 of us ended up walking a mile or less from Salisbury train station to the Bed-&-Breakfast we'd booked in advance to stay at that one night -- which had already locked-up tight & did not answer the door when we rang the bell and knocked.  So... with no place else open -- including at the train station we'd just left -- we just kept walking all the way to Stonehenge -- many miles distant and literally next-door to Salisbury Plain, the British military's largest training area inside the U.K.  We walked all through the night and watched the sun rise as we approached the prehistoric monument, which was as Thomas (Burke, RIP) would say, was pretty f*cking cool.  Of course we had to carry everything with us.  Anyway, after taking advantage of the situation by getting way too close to the stones (since no staff had arrived at the break of dawn to stop us -- I'm sure that wouldn't be possible now) and seeing at least one Chieftain tank and a handful of soldiers in the far distance, we picked our luggage back up and made it back to the train station, having made a big loop -- either walking or maybe getting on an early morning bus, I can't remember.  The sad thing about that is Burke (RIP) definitely would remember, with his encyclopedia like memory.  I don't know how far we walked that night but I remember we found out the distance from the locked-up Bed-&-Breakfast that wouldn't answer the door, to Stonehenge, was 9 or 10 miles.  When you realize this pic shows Thomas & Thomas after at least 6 hours of walking through pitch black night on a foreign roadside, with no food, drink or sleep, I gotta' say they look pretty good -- and I assume I myself (who took the photo) did as well.

Summer 1986, maybe London... but could also be York or a few other spots.  When the three of us met, Thomas Keller (in the background) was the shortest guy in the Troop and Dear Departed Thomas Burke -- may his Memory be a Blessing -- was the tallest.  I was in between, but much closer to the short end.  But one of many things we all had in common was that whether we happened to be big, small or medium, we all loved to EAT.

Thomas was such a good guy, such a decent man.  He did so much for other people and put so much goodness into the world.  He had some good times and some great accomplishments he was rightfully proud of, and he enjoyed a lot... but the world definitely got the better end of the deal.

We did a lot of typical tourist stuff like this and... as well as some other stuff.  Not criminal, just kinda "off the beaten path" and occasionally dangerous.

Tom looking good on the banks of the Thames in Summer 1986.

1986 in the UK, probably London, during Thomas & the other Thomas (Keller) & my trip there.  The three of us spent way too much time together throughout our youth and young adulthood.  Just kidding -- that time was some of the best-spent time of our lives!  Kinda weird to classify myself as Thomas' "Friend" as I have thought of him as family for many decades now, and I think he thought of me the same way.

I was in Boy Scouts with Thomas for many years, and his nickname for me was "Maso" (short for masochist), because I didn't complain about dirty jobs, and seemed to relish hard labor, long hikes, etc... but Thomas was always willing to help after he had his laugh.
One night camping, someone threw a spider in the stew, and most of the boys wouldn't eat it. Thomas and I agreed that we couldn't let a big pot of perfectly good stew go to waste, so we polished it off together, earning legendary status in the troop.

OBITUARIO

Thomas Burke

26 noviembre, 1962 – 4 mayo, 2025

Joseph G. Duffy

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