Bobbie Burke remembered: Ode to a sailor's wife

Sea Power, Aug 1997 by Hessman, James D

The death of Roberta Gorsuch Burke last month at her home in Fairfax, Va., marked the end of an era for the U.S. Navyand the continuation of a lifelong love affair between the diminutive "Bobbie" and her late husband, the legendary "31knot" Admiral Arleigh Burke, first naval officer to serve three terms as chief of naval operations and generally considered the foremost U.S. Navy leader of the post-WWII era. Burke died on 1 January 1996, three days before his wife's 97th birthday, and was buried at the U.S. Naval Academy under a headstone that describes him as "Sailor, United States Navy."

The same headstone describes Bobbie Burke, "Sailor's Wife," with the same simple eloquence. They met on a blind date in October 1920 when she was working in Washington, D.C., and he was a midshipman. They were married on 7 June 1923 when the future four-star admiral graduated and was commissioned an ensign. Very few Navymen were married in those days, particularly junior officers, who were expected to spend their first years of active duty at sea.

The Burkes were different. Bobbie accompanied her husband from one duty station to another, and made a home for him in each port-a remarkable achievement at a time when Navy pay was extremely low and in ports where employment opportunities for Navy wives ranged from low to non-existent. The experience gained in those years stayed with Mrs. Burke, who retained her frugal ways even after they had moved into Admiral's House on Observatory Circle in Washington (then the home of the chief of naval operations, and now the official residence of the vice president). "Once an ensign's wife, always an ensign's wife" was one of her proudest sayings. It was a truth born of hard experience.

Admiral Arleigh A. Burke was an extraordinary American, a warrior, a superb planner and thinker, and the epitome of a naval leader. His wife was no less extraordinary. Her strong religious faith, her humility, her consideration of others, and her achievements as a Sailor's Wife were noted by the five Navy wives who served as psalmists and eulogists at the Naval Academy funeral services for Mrs. Burke. Mary Rushton, wife of Cdr. Richard T. Rushton, recalled that, on several occasions when she was present with the Burkes, the men present "broke into their respective groups based on age or rank." Bobbie Burke, though, would "gather around her all of the wives ... and make each one feel equally welcome."

Mrs. Rushton also remembered the quiet strength displayed by Mrs. Burke at the funeral services for Admiral Burke: "I watched Mrs. Burke say goodbye to her great love and best friend with dignity, grace, and style. All of us who were present during that sad time of mourning were reduced to tears. Not Mrs. Burke. She acknowledged each one who had come to pay their respects that cold winter night and thanked them on behalf of herself and the admiral."

Margaret Dalton, wife of Secretary of the Navy John H. Dalton, also served as a eulogist for a woman she described as "a remarkable lady ... the personification of our Navy's core values of honor, courage, and commitment. ... Petite, gentle, and gracious ... she was equally strong, determined, and tough. She was a perfect complement to the admiral."

Bobbie Burke "was always regarded as an ambassador for our country and as a representative of her husband," Mrs. Dalton recalled. "Over the years she formed friendships with people from all walks of life and from all over the world ... She was the first to open Admiral's House ... to the Embassy Row Home Tour. ... [She] believed that the home itself, and the Observatory property, belonged to all the people of the United States."

Mrs. Burke's most important and most enduring quality, according to all who knew her and who spoke at her funeral, was her kindness to others. "She believed," Mrs. Dalton said, "that you should never forget where you started, and you should carry those lessons along through life."

Bobbie Burke learned the lessons that all Navy wives must learn, and she passed them on to others. "She knew that young wives with husbands away at sea may not be prepared for the situation, so she always made sure they knew they were never alone, and that Navy wives pull together."