ROBBINSTON – After nearly a century of life among family members, friends and neighbors, Percy A. Burke, 99, passed away Aug. 6, 2010, at Eastport Memorial Nursing Home, only 37 days after his brother Leroy Burke’s death. Percy and Leroy lived their lives looking after each other. Hardly ever one was seen without the other. They are together again. Percy was born April 8, 1911, in Robbinston, son of Fred and Flora (Ashby) Burke. He received his early education at the one-room Robbinston Ridge School. For many years he was the janitor at the school, carrying water to fill the water crock and start the wood fire. Percy and his father, Fred, did carpenter work on the original housing at Quoddy Village, Eastport, in the late 1930s. Signs of their masonry skills can be seen around the Robbinston area in chimneys, fireplaces and stone walls. He was a master at sharpening saws and tools. He kept the carpenters happy while working at Cutler Navy Station in the 1950s. Percy loved the outdoors, caring for the sheep and cattle, tilling the fields in the summer and cutting wood in the winter. Woodworking was a favorite pastime. Percy loved music. If walls at the old homestead could talk, you would hear Percy playing jigs and reels on the button box accordion, his father on a homemade fiddle and one of his sisters on piano. His music was enjoyed at local dances. He will be sadly missed by a nephew, Alan Burke and his wife, Harriet, of Skowhegan; a niece, Mary Golding Baetz and her husband, Don, of Ohio; cousins and friends. In addition to his parents; and brother, Leroy Burke, he was predeceased by his sisters, Emma Golding, Laura Kendall and Marion Burke. The family thanks the staff at Eastport Memorial Nursing Home and Calais Regional Hospital for the tender loving care they provided during the past year. Graveside services will take place 11 a.m. Aug. 14 in the family lot at Robbinston Ridge Cemetery. Arrangements under the care and direction of Dan & Scott’s Cremation & Funeral Service, 445 Waterville Road, Skowhegan.
PERCY A. BURKE
