Barbara Elaine Burke was born on July 10, 1927 in Kingston, Jamaica, the daughter of Cynthia Isabel Louise Brown and Percival Augustus England.

She was the youngest of 3 children: Monica her sister and Aubrey her brother.

Her father Percival fought in the 1st World War and was injured, which led to his early death when she was only 16. The family struggled and Barbara had to leave school and go out to work along with her siblings.

She met her husband Wadsworth Eugene Mapletoft Burke and they married in 1947 at the age of 20 and 21 and subsequently had 4 children.

Raymond was born on February 28, 1949

Paul Burke was born on March 28, 1950

Kathleen was born on December 4, 1951 and

Donna Burke was born on August 25, 1956.

With 4 children, Barbara and “Wordie” were busy. They moved from Kingston where the first 3 children were born, to Mandeville where Donna was born in the Manchester hospital.

All the children were sent to the best schools possible on the island and the family continued to do the best they could with what they had.

Barbara was incredible at making a Dollar stretch to feed, clothe and school 4 kids. She sewed many of their clothes and taught the girls to sew at an early age. She made decorative candles at Christmas time and sold them to many in the small town.

Wordie, Barbara and their son Paul decided to become entrepreneurs in 1974 and opened an office equipment and stationary business called Burke’s Agencies Ltd.

Barbara had never worked outside of the home up to this point, although her quick, intelligent mind always contributed much to their life together and helped Wordie in his job as a Life Insurance Underwriter.

Burke’s Agencies Ltd opened its doors with Barbara as the Office Manager, receptionist and salesperson, while Wordie continued his job. She thrived on having the opportunity to use her mind and to build a business.

As true entrepreneurs, they then opened a pillow factory and tried to make a go of that as well. They were very enterprising!

While this was all happening, the island of Jamaica was going through political change and upheaval.

The children were mostly grown by then.

Raymond had gone to New York to University and married.

Paul and Kathleen had also made lives of their own in Jamaica and married.

Donna was at University in Canada.

Barbara and Wordie found life in Jamaica increasingly dangerous and difficult so they decided to emigrate to Miami, Florida in March 1978.

By then the newly elected Jamaican government had put many restrictions on money and property, leaving the couple no choice but to virtually start all over again.

Life in Florida was not an easy transition for them, but with the help of Raymond, their first son, they were able to get a car and eventually buy a small house in North Miami Beach.

Barbara developed a rare condition in one eye that caused her much discomfort and eventually led to her losing the sight in her left eye.

Regardless of the obstacles, they worked hard at jobs that kept them on their feet for hours…but they did what they always had done all their lives and stoically overcame the hardships.

They did have some fun in the process. Wordie loved to fish so they spent many a Sunday afternoon fishing or watching the fishing boats coming in at Hallandale Beach in North Miami. They loved to go for drives and made it as far a North Carolina once. They would pack picnics and “just go” as Barbara used to say when she recounted their adventures.

8 grandchildren were born in this interval as well. Two for each of the children with the last in 1988, on July 9 the day before Barbara’s birthday. She now had 3 granddaughters and 5 grandsons.

In 1989, Barbara’s mother, affectionately called Aunt CIL, passed away after having a stroke in Toronto, Canada.

Also in 1989, Wordie was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer at the age of 63 and died a year later in November 1990. Barbara stood by his side and nursed him through the pain, hospital and doctors visits while working as well. She was his rock.

Barbara was a widow at 63 and had lost her mother and her husband in 2 years. However, she proudly and conscientiously dedicated herself to her position at a bank, that she had secured a few years before and remained at this job until she was 70 years old. She was called the “bulldog” of the file room, as every file was meticulously organized and protected.

By this time the home in North Miami Beach was becoming a burden so once again, with the help of her eldest son Raymond, Barbara was able to purchase a beautiful condo in Century Village, Pembroke Pines and moved there.

She enjoyed her life at Century Village and made many friends: Eva , Nina and Barbara among others. She was kind, loved to help people and to give gifts and often helped as she got older, even when she herself did not feel well. She liked to dress nicely, always had hair done and her lipstick on and planned her outfits carefully.

She was also a busy lady in the first few years at Century Village: exercising at the lazy river, attending movies and events at the Clubhouse, becoming part of a bible study group, having tea parties and driving her tiny little car all over Pembroke Pines shopping. She held onto her drivers license until she was 85.

At the age of 80, she developed colon cancer and was operated on in emergency surgery. Once again, her iron will helped her to survive the surgery and chemotherapy and she never did develop colon cancer again.

Barbara retained a very lucid and active mind until the end, managing all her own affairs. She had an amazing memory for detail and would often proudly tell people that her children wanted to inherit her brain, because at 88 it was still so sharp.

Amazingly, she lived with an ostomy for 8 years and a tremendous amount of arthritic back pain until she began to feel very weak and ill. A diagnosis showed a blood disorder that was on its way to leukemia and the doctors made a valiant effort to give her more chemotherapy, but she couldn’t take any more.

She lived at Century Village until she was moved into hospice care in November of 2015, then passed away in The Health Centre of Coconut Creek on January 7, 2016.

She will be missed by all who knew her and especially the many generations of her 4 children, 8 grandchildren and 61/2 great grandchildren that she worked so hard to keep together all across North America.

I know that Barbara would be very appreciative knowing that we are gathered her today to celebrate her life.

She inspired, protected and loved us all fiercely and will be remembered in our family legacy…..forever.

Visitation will take place on Wednesday, January 13, 2016, starting at 10:00 a.m. with Tributes of a Lifetime Service at 11:00 a.m. and Reception at 12:00 p.m. at Boyd-Panciera Family Funeral Care, University Drive Chapel. Interment will follow at Southern Memorial Park Cemetery.