Loretta Burke

Loretta was born September 26, 1936, in a farmhouse in Canton, OH. She was the second child of Joseph and Julia (Oberster) Andrews, the first, a boy, having died in childbirth. Two years later (1938), came Loretta's brother, William, and, then, three years later (1941), came her sister Lillian. The youngest member of the family, Elizabeth, was born in 1943.

The family moved several times before settling in a small home on Dale Avenue in Canton Township..

When America became involved in World War II, Loretta's father joined the Army and left to fight in Europe leaving Julia alone to care for four small children. Being the eldest, Loretta helped Julia to care for her brother and young sisters.

As was typical of all children, Loretta and her brother Bill played with the neighbor children and managed to get into mischief at times. One of the neighbor ladies, Mrs. Martin, had a strawberry patch which Loretta and Bill would frequent when the fruit was ripe. After several forays to eat the juicy strawberries, Mrs. Martin finally had to tell them to stay out. With the strawberry patch off limits, Loretta and Bill then turned their sights on another neighbor's (Burris) peach orchard.

Loretta was protective of her younger brother and often had to come to his defense when some of the neighbor kids would pick on him. Bill also remembers that, when it was time for him to start school, it was Loretta that would hold his hand while they walked to the school bus and watched out for him on the playground.

In most pictures of Loretta as a little girl, she was always wearing a pin that she said was her "donkey" pin. In recent years, upon closer inspection of some old photos of Loretta, the "donkey" actually turned out to be a "cat." After this "discovery", as a practical joke, Pete gifted Loretta with her very own cat pin for one of her birthdays.

Loretta always did like animals and recently told her sisters that she had always wanted a baby goat when she was little. This was probably because she had seen the baby goats when she visited her Grandma and Grandpa Oberster's farm in East Canton.

Loretta attended Waco Grade School and, later, Canton South High School where she graduated in 1954. Loretta was active on the school newspaper staff, served as a hall monitor, and also worked in the school attendance department. Throughout her school years, she ran around with the same group of girls. They became known as the 5 A's mainly because most of their names ended with the letter A. The original group consisted of Roweine (Ricky) Alborn, Lois Arnold, Ann Adkins, Josephine Angelo and, of course, Loretta Andrews. Later, the group grew to include Donna Farber and Pat Marty. These girls remained friends long after graduation, and those surviving, still correspond with her today.

Upon graduation, Loretta attended Raedel Business College in Canton, OH where she became more proficient in typing and shorthand. She was later hired by the Timken Company as their technical library secretary. This was a testament to Loretta's secretarial skills as the Timken Company only hired the brightest and the best.

One day, Loretta's high school friend, Lois Arnold, called Loretta and told her that she just had to come over to her house on Marietta Avenue to meet her neighbor Russ Buccini's good looking brother Pete who had just finished a four-year stint in the Air Force. "Not only was he good looking," Lois told her, "but he also had a super snazzy looking car!" Loretta got to Lois' house somehow and met Pete. They hit it off so well, that Pete drove her home that evening in his fancy car.

Shortly after that meeting, Loretta and Pete began dating for a brief period until Pete left Ohio to attend school in Chicago. Missing Loretta, Pete didn't stay in Chicago very long before he returned to Canton. They were engaged on Valentine's Day in 1955, and they continued dating while Loretta worked in Timken's technical library and Pete worked at Republic Steel where his brother Russ had helped him to get a job.

On July 2, 1956, Pete and Loretta eloped to Angola, Indiana, where they were married by a Justice of the Peace. (Many have asked why they chose Angola, Indiana, for their marriage. The location was suggested to Loretta by a Timken co-worker, Mary Ann Lehman, who told Loretta that, since neither she nor Pete had a religious affiliation, a Justice of the Peace would marry them there. They also eloped because Loretta's father did not want her to get married and would not give his blessing for the marriage.)

After Loretta and Pete were married, they lived at Pete's father's farm in Monaca, PA. Later, they moved close by to Beaver, PA, for approximately one year while Pete worked as a plastic molding tester at the Kopper's Company. While Pete worked, Loretta helped to care for Pete's sister Lucy's young son Larry. (Many years later, Larry would die as a result of enemy fire in Vietnam.)

In order to seek a better opportunity for both Pete as well as Loretta, they moved to Pittsburgh, PA, where they lived in a mobile home park near Saw Mill Run Boulevard. Pete worked in downtown Pittsburgh for the United Oil Co. as a lab technician (paint/coatings formulator/mixer) while Loretta worked for Mallet & Co. doing secretarial work in their sales department. (Mallet & Co. made icings for Kroger Stores and A&P bakeries.)

Pete and Loretta later moved to an apartment closer to downtown Pittsburgh. At the time, Pete was working for Stoner-Mudge as a paint lab research aide, and Loretta worked for Planned Parenthood of Pittsburgh. Shortly thereafter, Pete got a job teaching mechanics at Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics.

During the summer of 1961, Loretta became pregnant with their first child. Also during this time, there was unrest in the world, especially in Germany as the Berlin Wall had been constructed separating East and West Germany. US planes were airlifting food and other necessities to the East Germans. Since Pete was still in the Air Force Reserves, his unit was called up for active duty. The unit was due to go to Germany, and dependents were not allowed to accompany the active duty airmen. For that reason, Loretta moved back to Canton to be near family while she awaited the birth of their first child.

As things turned out, Pete's unit was not deemed fully prepared for overseas duty; consequently, Pete spent the entire time at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. While Pete was stationed in D.C., on February 24, 1962, Loretta gave birth to their son whom they named Robert Peter.

After Pete was discharged from the Air Force, he decided to use his money from the GI Bill to attend the University of Pittsburgh where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in automotive vocational education. While attending college, Pete also continued to work at Pittsburgh Institute of Aeronautics as an airplane mechanic instructor.

During this time, the family moved into a home somewhere near the Allegheny Airport so Pete could be closer to his work. Also, during this time, two more sons were born: Paul Andrew on February 5, 1964 and Richard Joseph on February 1, 1965.

In 1967, the family moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan where Pete landed a teaching position as an aircraft instructor at Western Michigan University. He also began attending classes toward earning his Masters Degree in Education. Loretta kept busy taking care of three very active sons. The small duplex on Greenwood Street didn’t offer much playing space for the boys, so in 1968 they moved to Portage, MI into a nice ranch house near Woodland Elementary School.

In 1970, because the university did not offer enough classes for Pete to teach, he resigned his position there and obtained another teaching position at Portage Central High School in Portage, MI. There, Pete taught vocational auto mechanics and math classes for grades 9 thru 12. With this position, the family moved from their home on Walcott Street to Gabardine Street in Portage. Pete continued his teaching career at Portage Central until he retired in 1993.

As the boys were growing up, both Loretta and Pete were involved with their activities such as Little League baseball, Rocket football, track and cross country teams, as well as Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts. While Pete taught school, Loretta worked "unofficially" as a chauffeur, chef, den mother, etc. In order to help with finances, Loretta was also actively employed at Tepes Department Store where she worked in their jewelry department. For many years, she also worked as a poll worker for the Portage Board of Elections.

In 1998, Pete suffered a stroke which left him partially paralyzed on his left side. This did not slow him down much, as he continued to work around the house while, at the same time, helping out many of the neighbors with snow and leaf removal, engine repair and other odd jobs that required his assistance. He also started oil painting as well as making metal and wooden wall hangings and yard decorations. He was also a very avid gardener.

Although Pete underwent open heart surgery in 2004, he did not become discouraged or disheartened. He not only continued with all of his regular activities, he also acted as caregiver for Loretta who had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis years earlier around 1993. In 2012, Pete's heart and health began deteriorating rapidly. Pete passed away on November 8, 2012. He was laid to rest with military honors at Fort Custer National Cemetery in Augusta, Michigan.

As Pete's health deteriorated, so, too, did Loretta's. Her arms and legs began to grow weaker and weaker, and she was forced to use a walker and a wheelchair. Most of her doctors blamed her weakened condition on the multiple sclerosis, but, eventually, it was determined that she was suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease known as myasthenia gravis.

Myasthenia gravis is a disease which brings many physical and emotional challenges. Loretta met these challenges bravely and with determination to stay independent. For two years she endured surgeries, physical therapy and rehab with a sweet and positive spirit. Gradually, however, the disease wore her down physically, and the side effects of her medication led to damage to her body which could no longer be repaired. In the final months of her life, due to the effects of myasthenia gravis, Loretta bravely faced having her breathing supported by mechanical ventilation for several days. Then, just as she was recovering and beginning to walk again, she had to endure major abdominal surgery.

Knowing that she might not survive the surgery, Loretta's thoughts were of her loved ones. She requested that not a lot of money be spent on her funeral and she said, "Don't you guys cry...I'll be alright." Amazingly, Loretta did survive that surgery and was recovering well, but complications set in that eventually she was unable to overcome. During her last days, her earlier wish to strengthen her relationship with God was realized when she accepted the sacrament of Anointing of the sick. This act of faith was of great comfort to her.

Throughout her life, Loretta has been a sweet and quiet person who always put other's needs before her own, but she has also had an inner strength that wouldn't let her quit. Loretta put her trust in God through all her hard times, and that is why she would say to us today, "Don't cry for me...I'm OK!"