(1933-2021)

When Precious Blood Parish on Detroit’s northwest side was still new, among its earliest members were the Burke family: Peter and Marjorie (Reske) and, over time, four children: Don, Larry, Noreen, and Carole.

Peter and Marjorie could not have grown up in more different circumstances from each other. Peter was born into a family of six boys, raised by their mother alone after his father died early of heart disease. Bridget, Peter’s mother, “ran a lively and mischievous household. Apparently, no prank was too much trouble as long as she kept everyone laughing and enjoying life.”

Marjorie, on the other hand, was orphaned at age five and originally sent with her sister to an orphanage while her younger brothers were raised by her four aunts. Eventually, “the Aunts,” as they became collective known in family lore, brought the girls home too and raised all the children in a loving but “Puritanical” home. “Imagine poor Marjorie’s terror when Peter was courting her, and brought her into the boisterous Burke clan!” Sister Noreen wrote.

Read more about Sister Noreen (pdf, updated with photos 7-7-21) 

Memorial gifts may be made to Adrian Dominican Sisters, 1257 East Siena Heights Drive, Adrian, Michigan, 49221. 

 

 

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