Virginia Lane Burke

Virginia Lane Burke (b. 28 July 1924) passed away peacefully in her sleep Wednesday, May 30. Known as Ginger during her youth, she was born to Eben Elwood Lane and Jessie Jean Higley. She grew up in Phoenix during its formative years attending Emerson Elementary and North High School. While attending the University of Arizona during World War II, she met Army Air Corp Major Spencer Lawrence (Larry) Burke (1918-2004), who was stationed at Davis-Monthan Air Base in Tucson. It was Larry who started calling Virginia, Ginny. Married at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Phoenix on 23 May 1944, Larry and Ginny returned to Phoenix after the war where they remained the rest of their lives. In the early years, Ginny was active in many local groups - Thetas, Junior League, and Young Republicans. Over the years, however, her real interest became pet and animal charities. Ginny also liked crafts and tried her hand at macrame and painting. But it was when she discovered making gingerbread houses and decorative wreaths and the Arizona State Fair that she hit her stride. She won many ribbons in both categories, and, one year, she was asked to submit a gingerbread house to the Phoenix Art Museum Christmas auction. The one activity, however, that both Ginny and Larry passed on to their children and grandchildren was reading. Although they had varying tastes, it was not unusual to see them with their noses in a book. Ginny is descended from Arizona pioneer Stephen W. Higley, her maternal grandfather. Higley came to Arizona building the Santa Fe Railroad. The town of Higley is named for him. Ginny's mother, known as JJ, was born in Prescott when it was the Arizona Territorial capitol, and her father, Eben, arrived in Phoenix in 1913 from Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Because of her family history and in relation to the Arizona Centennial, Ginny recently received a Certificate declaring her an Arizona Pioneer. Ginny is preceded in death by her husband, Larry, and her parents, Eben and JJ. She is survived by her daughter, Nancy Lane Burnett, and her son Richard S. Burke, his wife Pamela Borneman, their three daughters Amy Schildt, Heather Smith and Kelley Haywood, their husbands, and six great-grandchildren. There will be no services. She will be cremated with entombment at Greenwood Memorial Lawn in the crypt with her husband, Larry. In lieu of flowers or other remembrances, Ginny would be proud and thrilled for any donations made in her memory to the Arizona Humane Society or any other animal charity if you have a favorite.