Mervyn Francis Burke

March 16, 1929 - June 19, 2020

Mervyn Francis Burke died peacefully at home at the age of 91 on Friday, June 19, 2020. Mervyn was born at the Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley on March 16, 1929 to Josephine and Mervyn Burke, Sr. Mervyn grew up in a home on Hopkins Street in Berkeley where his childhood pursuits including keeping several honeybee hives, working a paper route for the Oakland Tribune and running the soda fountain at the neighborhood pharmacy. He attended Berkeley High School followed by U.C. Berkeley. While an undergraduate, Mervyn worked almost full-time as an orderly at Alta Bates Hospital which in large part inspired him to pursue a medical career and he subsequently enrolled at UCSF Medical School.

After graduating from UCSF, Mervyn spent a year as an intern at SF General Hospital and it was during this year that he met his future wife, Delores Distel, who was working as a volunteer there, though they were not married until several years later.

After his internship, Mervyn served two years in the United States Army in Bad Kreuznach, Germany as the Surgical Ward Officer at the 14th Field Hospital. He regarded this time as invaluable surgical training as well as a wonderful opportunity to see as much of Europe as possible.

Upon his return from Germany, Mervyn began a five-year surgical residency at UCSF. He also became re-acquainted with Delores Distel, and she and Mervyn were married on January 30, 1960 at the Presidio Chapel. Delores and Mervyn lived in Boston for one year of his residency before returning to San Francisco and eventually settling in Marin County to start his private practice in General and Vascular Surgery. During his surgical career, he took exceedingly good care of his patients and was considered by many to be a “doctors’ doctor”, always maintaining impeccably high standards and treating everyone from nurses to orderlies to fellow surgeons with decency and respect. Mervyn was a member of several medical groups including the American College of Surgeons, the Pacific Coast Surgical Association and the Society for Vascular Surgery. Beyond surgery and his family, Mervyn loved flying and traveling. He earned his private pilot’s license and instrument rating in the 1980’s and flew Cessna, Beechcraft and Flight Design airplanes for many years, including into Mexico and throughout the United States. He and Delores also loved traveling and visited countries all over the world, including India, China, Japan, Russia,

Iran, South Africa and many others.

Mervyn is survived by his three children, Cynthia Ciardella (Richard) of Carmel, California, John Burke (Laura) of Great Falls, Virginia, and Stephanie Robinson (Mark) of Kentfield, California; and his eight grandchildren: Courtney and Shannon Ballagh, Katherine Prezioso, Mary and John Burke, and Christopher, Matthew and Peter Robinson. A Memorial Mass and celebration of Mervyn’s life will be held in the coming months when all those who loved him will be able to gather together.