Richard Burk Obituary
Richard
Osman
Burk
December 9, 2017
Resided in Glen Mills, PA
Obituary text Richard Osman Burk - December 20, 1925 - December 9, 2017
Richard Osman Burk, 91, Maris Grove, Glen Mills, PA, formerly of Hershey’s Mill and Wallingford, PA passed away at 7:18 pm on Saturday December 9th at Crozer-Keystone Hospice in Ridley Park, PA due to complications from a fall on December 3rd.
Dick was born in Lancaster, Ohio, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus. His family moved to Binghamton, New York in 1932, where Dick graduated from high school in 1943. He entered Carnegie Technical Institute (now Carnegie-Mellon) in the fall of 1943, but was later drafted into the U.S. Army where he served from 1944 to 1946 as a bomb disposal technician. He returned to college and earned a Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering in June of 1948.
Following college, Dick worked for Standard Oil of Indiana (now BP Amoco) for 4 years preparing designs and appraisals of oil refinery process equipment. After that he worked for a consulting engineering firm (just him and the owner) in Washington, D.C. This position took him all over the U.S. and also overseas to Greece and Venezuela among other places. In 1953 he married Carol Jean Mallory in Washington D.C. In 1958 his only child, Kenneth Brian Burk was born. In 1959, Dick began work at the Sun Oil Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he worked until his retirement in 1983. At Sunoco, Dick held various positions in engineering, refining, marketing, new ventures, production, and upper management. From 1966 through 1970 he held a senior management position at the Great Canadian Oil Sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada which was pioneering processes to extract oil from the extensive tar sands reservoirs there. Dick, Carol, and Ken lived in Edmonton, Alberta during that time, and returned to Wallingford, PA in 1970.
After retirement from Sunoco, Dick spent his time among various activities, notably flower gardening, volunteering, and woodworking. He volunteered at Longwood Gardens for about 15 years, working mostly in the greenhouses and preparing hanging basket displays. He grew prize-winning chrysanthemums for the annual show at Longwood. Dick also volunteered with the National Executive Service Corps, offering free consulting to the Red Cross of the Delaware Valley to rewrite their disaster plan and procedures and also Trevor’s Place, which prepared and delivered meals to homeless people in Philadelphia.
Dick’s wife Carol succumbed to a stroke in August 2000. They had been married for 47 years. In early 2001, Dick was lucky to be introduced to Dorothy Fehr, recently widowed herself. They fell in love very quickly and married in June of 2001. The next five years saw them taking at least two international trips or cruises per year. Dorothy was a wonderful active and vibrant woman, playing tennis into her late 70s, but by 2010 her health had started to decline. Dick chose to be Dorothy’s primary caregiver until just a few months prior to her passing in February of 2015.
Dick is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth B. Burk and Stephanie L. Neill, and his grandson, Jeffrey M. Burk; step-children Janet Fehr, Robert Fehr and his wife Carrie, David Fehr and his wife Lori, Erick Fehr and his wife Michelle, Jeff Fehr and his wife Diane, Lucy Fehr Dowd, and Debra Fehr McCleod and her husband John, as well as 13 step-grandchildren and 2 step-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday January 3rd, 2018 in the chapel at Westminster Presbyterian Church at 10 W. Pleasant Grove Rd, West Chester, PA 19382, officiated by Pastor Don Lincoln. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, 34 Washington Street, Suite 200, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481
Richard Osman Burk, 91, Maris Grove, Glen Mills, PA, formerly of Hershey’s Mill and Wallingford, PA passed away at 7:18 pm on Saturday December 9th at Crozer-Keystone Hospice in Ridley Park, PA due to complications from a fall on December 3rd.
Dick was born in Lancaster, Ohio, about 30 miles southeast of Columbus. His family moved to Binghamton, New York in 1932, where Dick graduated from high school in 1943. He entered Carnegie Technical Institute (now Carnegie-Mellon) in the fall of 1943, but was later drafted into the U.S. Army where he served from 1944 to 1946 as a bomb disposal technician. He returned to college and earned a Masters of Science in Chemical Engineering in June of 1948.
Following college, Dick worked for Standard Oil of Indiana (now BP Amoco) for 4 years preparing designs and appraisals of oil refinery process equipment. After that he worked for a consulting engineering firm (just him and the owner) in Washington, D.C. This position took him all over the U.S. and also overseas to Greece and Venezuela among other places. In 1953 he married Carol Jean Mallory in Washington D.C. In 1958 his only child, Kenneth Brian Burk was born. In 1959, Dick began work at the Sun Oil Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he worked until his retirement in 1983. At Sunoco, Dick held various positions in engineering, refining, marketing, new ventures, production, and upper management. From 1966 through 1970 he held a senior management position at the Great Canadian Oil Sands in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada which was pioneering processes to extract oil from the extensive tar sands reservoirs there. Dick, Carol, and Ken lived in Edmonton, Alberta during that time, and returned to Wallingford, PA in 1970.
After retirement from Sunoco, Dick spent his time among various activities, notably flower gardening, volunteering, and woodworking. He volunteered at Longwood Gardens for about 15 years, working mostly in the greenhouses and preparing hanging basket displays. He grew prize-winning chrysanthemums for the annual show at Longwood. Dick also volunteered with the National Executive Service Corps, offering free consulting to the Red Cross of the Delaware Valley to rewrite their disaster plan and procedures and also Trevor’s Place, which prepared and delivered meals to homeless people in Philadelphia.
Dick’s wife Carol succumbed to a stroke in August 2000. They had been married for 47 years. In early 2001, Dick was lucky to be introduced to Dorothy Fehr, recently widowed herself. They fell in love very quickly and married in June of 2001. The next five years saw them taking at least two international trips or cruises per year. Dorothy was a wonderful active and vibrant woman, playing tennis into her late 70s, but by 2010 her health had started to decline. Dick chose to be Dorothy’s primary caregiver until just a few months prior to her passing in February of 2015.
Dick is survived by his son and daughter-in-law, Kenneth B. Burk and Stephanie L. Neill, and his grandson, Jeffrey M. Burk; step-children Janet Fehr, Robert Fehr and his wife Carrie, David Fehr and his wife Lori, Erick Fehr and his wife Michelle, Jeff Fehr and his wife Diane, Lucy Fehr Dowd, and Debra Fehr McCleod and her husband John, as well as 13 step-grandchildren and 2 step-great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Wednesday January 3rd, 2018 in the chapel at Westminster Presbyterian Church at 10 W. Pleasant Grove Rd, West Chester, PA 19382, officiated by Pastor Don Lincoln. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, 34 Washington Street, Suite 200, Wellesley Hills, MA 02481
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Funeral Home
Tri-State Cremation Society of Delaware Valley
412 Philadelphia Pike, Suite 100
Wilmington, DE 19809
Wilmington, DE 19809
