This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Burke Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/RkG.2ACEB/3087.2 Message Board Post: Marvin E. Burke has a long obituary. It is likely that Seattle Pacific University will have information on him, perhaps on his parents as well. OUTDOOR-WEAR LEADER BURKE DIES THE SEATTLE TIMES February 7, 1988 Estimated printed pages: 2 Marvin Burke, 75, longtime Seattle community activist and a leader in the clothing-apparel industry, was buried yesterday in Washington Memorial Park after private services. A memorial service will be scheduled this spring for Burke, who died Tuesday in Key Biscayne, Fla. Burke was president and chairman of the board of the Sportcaster Co., a leading distributor of ski apparel. He was president of the Seattle Totems Hockey team from 1958 to 1965. Born in Vancouver, B.C., Burke was raised in Seattle and attended Franklin High School and the University of Washington. He began Sportcaster with a staff of three and $50,000 gross sales and developed it into multimillion-dollar outdoor-wear distributing firm. Burke, whose firm's headquarters is at Occidental Avenue South and South Jackson Street, was one of the first Pioneer Square property owners to take an active role in the restoration of the area. He was president of the Pioneer Square Association from 1962 to 1967 and was a member of the Pioneer Square Historical Preservation Board from 1975 to 1978. He also served on the boards of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the Metropolitan YMCA and the Seattle Art Museum. Burke was a member of Seattle Pacific University's board of trustees since 1947 and of the Salvation Army advisory board since 1960. He also was a member emeritus of the Seattle Center Advisory Committee, having served since its inception in 1964. He was on the board of Lighthouse for the Blind since 1968. He was a member of the Seattle Rotary, the Rainier Club, the Seattle Tennis Club and the Washington Athletic Club. He was president of the King County and Pacific Northwest Independent Grocers Association from 1936 to 1939. He had been president of the Washington State Manufacturers' Association and president of the National Men's and Boys' Apparel Clubs, chairman of the board of the Defense Supply Association and the American Logistics Association. In 1955, Burke helped to found Ski Industries America, a national industrial trade association. Burke was on the board of the state Prison Industries Commission from 1961 to 1973. He was chairman of the International Christian Leadership World Conference in Seattle in 1965. Survivors include his wife, Gerd; a daughter, Debbie Burke, of Seattle; two sons, John Burke of Seattle and Gary Burke of Bellevue; two brothers, Irving Burke of Klamath Falls, Ore., and Forrest Burke of Seattle; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. Remembrances may be sent to the Seattle Pacific University scholarship fund. Caption: MARVIN BURKE: COMMUNITY LEADER Caption: PHOTO Edition: SUNDAY Section: NORTHWEST Page: D3