Obituary of Ronald Leon Burk

Ronald Leon Burk passed away peacefully on Wednesday, April 23, 2014 at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance at the age of 78. Ronald was born January 23, 1936 to Orville and Marie (White) Burk on the family farm (corner of the 3rd and Bisnett) where he proudly resided his entire life. He is survived by: loving and dedicated daughters, Noeline (James Pataran) Burk of Newmarket and Margie (Brent) Wathke of Chesley; treasured grandchildren, Cora and Leah Pataran; Levi, Vivian, Landry and Avery Wathke; once wife and true love, Helen (Crawford) Burk of London; sisters, Marion Duffy of Ridgetown and June (Tom) Anderle of Santa Barbara, California. Also survived by the Crawford sisters and spouses and many nieces and nephews on the both the Burk and Crawford sides. Ron will also be missed by his stepsisters, Ada (late Bill) Wright; Joyce (Bill) Guerin and Brenda (Ted) Rumble through Orville’s later union with Velma Payne. Ron is predeceased by his parents, son Ryan, brother-in-law Gordon Duffy and stepmother Velma (Payne) Burk. Ronald (a.k.a. Burky, The Baron or The Legend) was a humble member of the R.R. #3 farming community his whole life. His passions were: farming; watching and playing sports (especially hockey); sweets and, of course, his grandchildren. Cremation has taken place. Visitation and funeral to be held at McKinlay Funeral Home, Blenheim. Visitation hours are Friday, April 25 from 3-5 & 7-9 pm. Funeral is 2 pm. on Saturday, April 26. Reception to follow at the Blenheim Curling Club. Interment to be held at the Burk Cemetery at a later date. Pallbearers include: Gary Duffy, Lee Duffy, Al Sheppard, Mark Nicholson, Tony Rumble and Chris Stewart. Honourary Gentlemen include: David Nicholson; Jim Van Neck; Ron Sullivan; Lyle Giffin and Ted Bell. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a charitable donation to the development of Chatham-Kent Hospice. Online condolences may be left at www.mckinlayfuneralhome.com McKinlay Funeral Home 141 Park Street, Blenheim 519-676-3451 Burky, may you rest in peace.