Alice Lena May Burke, 97, of Fort Myers, Florida, went to be with the Lord on July 12, 2023. She was born September 9, 1925, to August and Alice Drummond Stevenson.
Alice is survived by three daughters, Alice Miller, Nancy Southard (G. Lee), and Karen Firmani (Alex); grandchildren William Veasey, Joseph Brown (Amy), William Brown (Diana), William Miller (Otis), and Melissa Rasnake. She had five great-grandchildren, Natalie, Emily, Cody, Grayson, and four great-great-grandchildren, Anna Leigh, Jackson, Connor and Finnley.
Formerly of Wilmington, Delaware, Alice graduated from William Penn High School in 1944. She served her country as a “Rosie the Riveter” at Bellanca Aircraft Company, riveting airplane wings for the WW II effort. There she met her husband of 58 years, Joseph Burke, now deceased. Following the war, she was a devoted housewife and mother. In 1957 she joined The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company (A&P) as a bookkeeper before retiring in 1983.
For years Alice was a dedicated and savvy participant of Spence’s Market in Dover and Fleamasters in Fort Myers, Florida. Regardless of weather conditions, she enjoyed her weekends there and made many friends who treated her like family, and she did so in return.
Alice was known as a loving mother to her three daughters. Humble in spirit with a sweet disposition, she was loved and revered by everyone who knew her. She recognized the authority of Jesus Christ in her life and lived it accordingly. Alice exuded quiet love, happiness, and contentment in every situation. Everyone who knew her will miss her and can rejoice, knowing that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.
Alice’s charity is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Donations should go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, or online at st.jude.org.
A service will be held Thursday, July 20, at McCrery & Harra Funeral Home, 3710 Kirkwood Highway, Wilmington, Delaware. Visitation will be from 10:00 to 11:00 AM, with service to follow. Burial will follow in Silverbrook Cemetery.
