To all of those who met and spent time with and got to know Don Burke –
He breathed his last in this earthly body on Thursday, September 2nd, 2021, at 12:42 in the pm. He was a dad, a husband, a Geeps, an uncle, a brother, a son, a grandson, and a Friend. He was an entrepreneur, an adventurer, a world traveler, and an international businessman. He was a Veteran, a Lover of America, and its founding principles. He was a giver of what he had, a source of good times and a conduit of cool experiences. He was a Believer and a Follower of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. He was a Volunteer for Youth Ministry, a Coach, a Helper, a Superhuman, a Hero, a Force, a Wildman, an Impassioned Soul, and an imperfectly perfect existence.

Throughout his time on this earth, he knew a good martini, a hot sake, and a cold cerveza. He appreciated my mom's cooking, my brother's BBQ, and my smoothies. He dug sushi, burgers, steaks, ice cream, pies, carrot cake and cookies. Going out to the movies was something he wanted to do up until the end. He was into cars, motorcycles, trucks, ATVs, wave runners, boats, RVs, fighter jets, airplanes, and space travel. He enjoyed playing sports, surfing, skateboarding, snow skiing, water skiing, knee boarding, tubing, scuba diving, snorkeling, horseback riding, fishing, and hunting. He loved church, Promise Keepers conferences, Man in the Mirror meetings, and men's groups seeking God.

He lived a thousand lifetimes, and yet his life was cut before we were ready for him to go. No matter how long any of us all are able to make it in this life, it is not enough. Life here is way too short. It truly should never be extinguished. We believe God has allowed for this life to have its ending as a blessing, to bring to a close the great corruption that has infiltrated His creation. It is confusing, it is painful, it is heart wrenching, it is devastating, grief cannot describe its depths. We were made to be eternal, and we can feel that at the core of our existence. Sin brought death and destruction and decline into the wonderous beauty and goodness of God's creation. We are yearning for the final and eternal redemption through the Perfect Sacrifice of God in the Flesh, Jesus Christ. Whose purest Blood was shed to cover and cleanse the evil and chaos of this fallen world. We believe He tarries until all is imminent, that if He were not step in in that final moment all would come to naught. When He comes it will be to redeem and save His creation, that everyone will see and be struck through to the core of their soul with awe. All that is in heaven and earth will bow in reverence to His holiness, confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

We believe we have all missed the mark and come up short. We believe He whose Name is Above every other name stepped into the lowly form of a man into this corrupted world to live a perfect existence to lead us all to Him – the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He came to show us how to live and who He truly is. He came to comfort those who are filled with sorrow, to help the hurting, to lift up the downtrodden, to bring in the outcast, to heal the sick, to give sight to the blind, to make the lame walk, to raise the dead, and to save the heavens and the earth and all that are therein contained.
Even in the midst, while those who were crucifying and cursing Jesus, as He gave Himself as a Sacrificial Lamb for us all, He cried out "Father forgive them for they know not what they do!"

While we don't have all or most or any of the answers fully grasped, He does, and we trust in His care and love for what He brought into Existence. We bow with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength to Him Who is outside of the confines of space and time as we know them. We surrender to the Great Breath maker, Mystery Most High, Creator of all things even that which is too large to explore, too small to see, too remote to experience, too great to behold, that which is beyond our senses, our insights, and our understandings. The One who spoke and breathed and designed and created and knit and made all things, all realities, and all the details of the details of the details that we have been unable to comprehend.

In the end my dad held no ill will, he wanted to live out love, he wished for forgiveness and desired to extend peace, mercy, and grace to all. He taught me to love God, to believe and to follow Jesus. I am so incredibly grateful to have had him as my dad, that God saved him numerous times so that he might live as long as he did, and that he allowed us to experience every wonderful moment we could together. If you asked, he would do everything he could to be there for you. He was someone you could rely on to step up and make it happen when you really needed someone to come through for you. He was loved, he still is loved. His physical death has not brought an end to the vibrancy of the memories of time spent with him and his impact and influence on those who loved the man.

Services are pending at this time.

The family of Donald Burke invites you to leave a message of condolence on the Tribute Wall created in his memory.