Walter Burke — Cheerleader, director, advocate ... retiree

After 23 years building programs, parks, participation — and a community center — Walter Burke steps into retirement

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 4/20/18

“Plans? I don’t have any plans,” said Walter Burke, retiring director of parks and recreation. “I have some gardening, some yard work to do. I’m going to condense the 18 …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Walter Burke — Cheerleader, director, advocate ... retiree

After 23 years building programs, parks, participation — and a community center — Walter Burke steps into retirement

Posted

“Plans? I don’t have any plans,” said Walter Burke, retiring director of parks and recreation. “I have some gardening, some yard work to do. I’m going to condense the 18 parks that I’ve been dealing with into one backyard.”

Mr. Burke is joking, of course. You don’t get through 23 years on this job without deploying your sense of humor on a fairly regular basis. In truth, Karen, Mr. Burke’s wife of 42 years, will be retiring from her job at Bryant University in December, and they are looking forward to traveling and enjoying life, and their four sons — together, at home in Cumberland. “She’s my best friend,” Mr. Burke said. “We fell in love the moment we met, at midnight mass at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament, and I asked her to marry me at midnight mass the very next year.”

It will be a satisfying retirement at the end of what has been not one, but actually three very fulfilling careers.

As a child in Peacedale, Mr. Burke’s family was very poor. His parents raised five boys and five girls in a three-bedroom house until Walter (the third youngest) was in the fourth grade. That’s when his parents (and a perceptive talent scout) realized he and his brothers and sisters could sing well enough to make a real go of it. And did they ever.

The Burke Family Singers spent the next decade traveling the United States and Canada packed into two station wagons, selling out venues including the Boston Garden and Madison Square Garden, and appearing on the Ed Sullivan Show and the Tonight Show, among others. It was a grand adventure, detailed in his sister Sarah Jo’s book, “Don’t Think It Hasn’t Been Fun.”

“It really tied us together,” said Mr. Burke. It also allowed them to trade in their house in Peacedale for a 23-room house on Providence’s East Side.

Before landing in Bristol, Mr. Burke worked for 25 years at the St. Aloysius Home in Greenville, a residential center for neglected and abused boys. When the home closed, Mr. Burke was working as the assistant administrator. “I loved that job; I’ve always loved kids,” he said. “It was a mission. When it closed, I thought I’d never find a job I’d love as much. But I did.”

He found Bristol, or perhaps Bristol found him. “I was accepted with open arms,” he said. “I love everything about this town, especially the people. It’s not my home, but it is.” He worked under four town administrators, and expresses nothing but respect and admiration for all. “Joe, Diane, Tony, and Steve — and the councils — Bristol is really fortunate to have such a great town government.”

The feeling is mutual, and the proof is all around us. There’s not a park in town that Mr. Burke is not leaving better than he found it, dramatically so in many cases. A dedicated environmental steward, Mr. Burke did not just oversee beautification projects, he oversaw projects that kept the long term sustainability of the land at the forefront.

Of the projects of which he is most proud, the restoration of the Bristol Town Beach and Sports Complex certainly stands out. Blessed with the Midas touch when it came to winning grant money for his projects, Mr. Burke managed to raise some $2.5 million for the beach restoration and attendant environmental improvements. Once afflicted by 15 to 20 closures a year, mostly due to contamination by stormwater runoff, the Bristol Town Beach has not been closed once in the past four years.

The acquisition of the Quinta-Gamelin center, which has gone from a mothballed Army recruitment facility to a vibrant community center with more than 700 people coming through each week for yoga and exercise programs, pickle ball tournaments, and community events, is a source of satisfaction.

Likewise, Mr. Burke considers the recent restoration of the courtyards at the Rhode Island Veterans Home, for which Mr. Burke marshaled hundreds of volunteer hours to turn the courtyards into an enjoyable outdoor space for the residents, and the development of Camp Poppasquaw from fewer than 100 campers to 500 now, with free breakfast daily and every activity available to them, to be highlights of his tenure in Bristol.

Mr. Burke’s successor, Sarah Klein, his longtime assistant, has some big shoes to fill, but he’s confident she is more than up to the task. “Sarah is going to make a great director,” he said.

In retirement, Mr. Burke can look back on his accomplishments while enjoying the perspective afforded by a little distance. He doesn’t really sing anymore — “Only in the shower,” he said with a laugh. But three of his four brothers are local and they have a ready-made Burke family foursome ready to hit the links this spring. He’s still in touch with quite a few of his former charges at St. Aloysius, hearing from about 25 or more of them each year, often around the holidays. And while he’s looking forward to his first summer of relative quiet, (“It’s the first summer in 50 years I won’t be surrounded by herds of kids”) Bristol won’t let go of him that easy. He’s been invited (and accepted) to serve as Chief Marshal of the Civic division of Bristol’s Military, Civic, and Fireman’s Parade, so look to see him leading that division on July 4.

Whether caring for children or championing the environment, Mr. Burke has always displayed a steadfast dedication born of his deep faith. “Everything in my life, I attribute to my foundation in my faith, and my love of God,” he said.

On Tuesday, April 10, in his final hours on the job, Mr. Burke was down by the Bristol sports complex gamely posing for photographs for this paper. It was hard to believe that, the next day, the man who has been such a hands-on fixture at the end of Asylum Road would be home in can’t-get-there-from-here Cumberland. It’s a transition that is going to take some getting used to for everyone. As the photo shoot was wrapping up, Mr. Burke pulled out his phone to show a series of texts from a group of kids who play street hockey at the complex.

“They’re here every night,” Mr. Burke said. “And every night they text me, around the same time, and ask me to turn on the lights, which I can actually do from this app on my phone!”

He paused. “I had better tell Sarah about this,” he said.

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Mike Rego

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.