Richard Alan Burke
Richard Alan Burke, age 74, of Monroe, CT, passed away peacefully on March 20, 2024, at St. Vincent’s Medical Center surrounded by his loving family. He was the beloved husband of Michele Macauda. Born in Norwalk on October 8, 1949, he was a son of the late Willihemia Frank and Thomas William Burke.
He attended Wilbur Cross High School and immediately enlisted in the U.S. Army upon completion. He was a decorated U.S. Army Sargent honorably serving his country during the Vietnam War. He was awarded several campaign medals including the Vietnam Service medal with four bronze service stars. He began his career at SNET in New Haven when he returned home from Vietnam and eventually was promoted to Director of Network Services at AT&T. He retired with 40 years of service in various roles engineering, constructing and operating the Network to deliver telecommunication services in Connecticut. Richard worked hard and played hard.
Outside of work he was very proud of his accomplishments of hiking the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine and being a member of the AMC Four-Thousand-Footer Club climbing all the highest mountain peaks of 4,000 feet in the Northeast. He enjoyed skiing all of the mountains in the Northeast, playing soccer, strumming his acoustic guitars and golfing. An avid reader from an early age he would complete books like “War and Peace” in a weekend and could often be found relaxing in his library reading his collection of history books. He also enjoyed traveling across the U.S. and abroad in Europe, Israel, Southeast Asia, Africa and India. He especially loved his vacations in Aruba, sipping piña coladas on the beach and playing craps at the casino.
His greatest joy of all was spending time with his children and grandchildren and loved watching them play soccer, baseball, basketball and horseback riding. In addition to his beloved wife, Michele, other survivors include his brothers, Thomas Burke (wife Karen) and Michael Raio; his daughters, Stacey Burke, Jessica Burke (life partner Jerry Walter), and stepdaughter Vanessa Fahy (husband Kevin); his grandchildren, Lucas LaCroix Burke, Zoe Burke, Donovan Fahy and Maverick Fahy; and several nieces and nephews. He is also survived by his motherin-law, Mary Macauda, his brother-in-law, Angelo Macauda, his former wife and mother of his children, Karen Burke, his daughterin-law, Lesley Burke and his former daughter-in-law and mother of Zoe, Ruth Burke. He was predeceased by his stepfather Anthony Raio, his brother Matthew Raio, his sister Susan Burke and his son Seth Burke.
In his later years Richard developed Alzheimer’s disease but he continued to live life to the fullest. The family would like to extend a special thank you to Richard’s caregivers and the caring staff from Bridges by Epoch; his doctors Yauss B. Safavi and Matthew H. Zegarek from the VA hospital and his attending physicians, nurses and Chaplain from St. Vincent’s Hospital, especially Dr. Philip Simkovitz, nurse Jen Marrocco and Fr. Al Forlano who were at his side with the family throughout the day when he passed away. Everyone showed such compassion while providing his care.
Funeral services will be held privately at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Kennedy Collective, 2440 Reservoir Avenue, Trumbull, CT 06611.