On September 21, 2020, our beloved Madeleine Anna Munz Burke was called Home. Madeleine was the devoted daughter of Martin Munz and Anna Davis Munz. She joins her husband, Eugene Francis Burke, in heaven and leaves behind her loving sister, Nancy Munz Callaghan; children, Marlene Burke Barrett, Paul E. Burke, and Christopher F. Burke; and adoring grandchildren, Anna and Megan Barrett and Emma and Bella Burke.
Madeleine spent her life dedicated to her children as a stay at home mom. Her greatest joy in life was taking care of babies and raising her three children. She was a kind and loving Mom who expressed her love through an endless supply of hugs and kisses.
When her children became teenagers, Madeleine, known adoringly as Mitzi, earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from Lehman College. Mitzi worked for the NYC Board Of Education first as a school secretary and then as a high school English teacher and delighted in her love of educating children. She was dedicated to education and even used her income as a school teacher to put her own children through college.
Madeleine’s other passion in life was jewelry and anything sparkly – especially diamonds. Over the years, her collection grew and her closet became full of jewelry bags and boxes stuffed with beads, gemstones, necklaces, rings, bracelets and any other type of jewelry you could imagine. Her favorite color was aquamarine.
But Madeleine’s greatest role was that of wife, mother and grandmother. She was wooed by the handsome Eugene Burke, known to his friends as Gene, and the couple moved into the Silk Stocking District of Manhattan. The apartment was conveniently located above the world-renowned restaurant Le Perigord, where Madeleine was known to enjoy an appetizer or two or three. Madeleine’s family grew, as families do, and they soon decamped to the idyllic pastures of Riverdale, where she and Gene raised three accomplished children, Marlene, Paul and Chris.
Through her kindness and gentility, Madeleine gathered a wide circle of friends, family and admirers who will miss her terribly, but will also take comfort in the memory of a fine, loving woman.
All are welcome in join in her remembrance at her funeral mass and memorial service at a future undetermined date in the Spring of 2021.