Obituary of William J. Burke

William J. Burke, 84, passed away peacefully surrounded by his family at his side on January 7, 2020. 

Born in Elizabeth, he resided in Fords for over 40 years before settling in Monroe Twp.  He was employed by Johnson & Johnson for over 35 years as an executive in their Management Information Center in Raritan.

William is predeceased by his parents, John J. Burke and Julia (Kelly) Burke and his sister Patricia Govan.

He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marie (Bambera) Burke of Clearbrook, Monroe Twp.  He was the loving father to Patricia Sasser and her husband Nick of Norman, OK, Carol Boyne and her husband Dave of Forked River, Linda Andel and her husband Steve of Whiting, and his son Dr. John Burke and his wife Angela of Westfield, MA, proud grandfather of 12 grandchildren: Emerson, Alicia, Jeanna, Jeff, Jonnelle, Shannon, Arielle, Caroline, Ryan, Sam, Cailean, and Sara, and eight great-grandchildren.  He is also survived by two sisters-in-law, Eleanor Hintenach and Gayle Bambera and many other extended family members.  Family meant the world to him.

Bill was an avid world traveler who loved to spend time with family in Ireland and Australia.  He was a proud Irish-American (America always in his heart; Ireland forever in his soul).  He loved the theater, photography, baseball (Let’s go Mets), Midleton Irish Whiskey, Irish music and the Hershey Kiss game he played with all of his grandkids. 

Visitation will be from 2-4pm and 7-9pm on Friday January 10, 2020 and from 10:00am to 11:00am on Saturday January 11, 2020 at the M. David DeMarco Funeral Home, Inc. 205 Rhode Hall Rd. Monroe Twp., NJ 08831.  A Catholic Blessing will begin at 11:00am on Saturday at the funeral home.  A private cremation will follow the blessing.

In lieu of flowers and for those who desire, memorial donations may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital stjude.org/donate/.