Francis J. Burke, Reporter For Bulletin And Army, 84

By Dominic Sama, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
Posted: May 24, 2000

Francis J. Burke, 84, of Drexel Hill, who worked as a reporter for the Bulletin, International News Service and Yank magazine during World War II, died of kidney failure May 16 at Delaware County Memorial Hospital.

Mr. Burke spent 46 years as a journalist, and friends were not surprised by his choice of careers. His father, Stephen, had been the city editor of the Philadelphia Record.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1936 from St. Joseph's College, Mr. Burke joined the Philadelphia office of INS, the news service started by publisher William Randolph Hearst to compete with the Associated Press. He remained with the company until he entered the Army in 1942.

The Army utilized his background by assigning him as a war correspondent with Yank, a weekly that circulated among the military.

He was based in London and shared a flat with Tom Flannery, Yank's cartoonist from Scranton. After the war, Mr. Burke visited Flannery and met his sister, Clare. They married in 1948.

Mr. Burke, renowned for a quick wit and a penchant for puns, returned to his old job at INS after the war and was later promoted to Pennsylvania state manager of the news wire.

In 1958, when INS merged with United Press to form United Press International, he was offered a job at the New York office. With young children, however, he opted to join the Bulletin and remain in the area.

He worked on the metro desk and rose to city editor, then retired when the Bulletin closed in 1982.

Besides his wife of 52 years, he is survived by his daughters, Kathleen Middleton, Mary Maurer, Sally, and Clare Litz, and nine grandchildren. A son, Stephen, is deceased.

A Funeral Mass and burial were held last week.

Dominic Sama's e-mail address is dsama@phillynews.com

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