Marguerite A. "Peg" (Sullivan) Burke, 90, a longtime resident of Andover, died peacefully at The Nevins Nursing and Rehabilitation Centre in Methuen, on Monday, Jan. 5, 2015, after a very long journey with Alzheimer's Disease. Peg was born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, to the late Charles J. and Mary A. (Downes) Sullivan, Irish immigrants who moved first to Lewiston, Maine before settling in Lawrence, and maintaining a summer home in Hampton Beach, NH. Peg and her late sister, Mary R. Murphy, helped their parents in the family's meat and grocery business in Lawrence as young women. Peg graduated from Lawrence High School in 1941, and maintained a life-long close friendship with a group of her classmates. She worked for the American Mutual Insurance Company in Lawrence and Boston, and after her marriage to William L. "Billy" Burke in 1949, she was a devoted wife and mother to her three children. She and Billy moved to the Shawsheen Hylands neighborhood in Andover in 1957 to raise their family. While her children attended St. Augustine's School in Andover, Peg was a member of the school mother's guild and was a cub scout den mother for her two sons and their friends. Peg was a loving and devoted mother who worked hard to make a good life for her children. She was a gifted pianist and enjoyed playing her beloved baby grand at home, and also at family holiday gatherings. A resourceful and creative woman, she enjoyed flower gardening, sewing, knitting, needlepoint and making braided rugs, and was very fond of spending summer vacations at Seabrook Beach, New Hampshire. She was proud of her Irish heritage, and had a good sense of humor. As her children got older, Peg returned to work, first at the Massachusetts Division of Employment Security in Lawrence for several years. She then worked as the student insurance secretary at the Isham Infirmary at Phillips Academy in Andover, and later as a proctor at the school's library. She retired in 1995 after 25 years of service. Peg was very proud of her children's accomplishments, and was a loving grandmother.
She was the beloved wife of William L. Burke, who died in 1981. Devoted mother of Patricia M. Cormier, of Byfield, and her late husband Rodney R. Cormier, William L. Burke, Jr., and his wife Barbara (Markt), of Mattapoisett, and Kevin J. Burke of Melrose, who was her caregiver for many years. Loving grandmother of Jonathan Cormier and his wife Siobhan, of Ipswich and their children Madeleine, Amelia and Hazel, Jennifer Myette and her husband Paul, of Byfield, and their children Jane and Graham, and Kelley and Timothy Burke, of Mattapoisett. She also leaves several nieces and nephews. Services are private. Peg's family would like to express their sincere appreciation to the staff at the Nevins Home in Methuen for the loving and respectful care she received for the past 8 years she lived happily at station "C", and also for the 2 years prior to that when she attended the Nevins Adult Day Program. For those who desire, the family has suggested memorial gifts in Peg's memory may be made to The Nevins Family of Services, 10 Ingalls Court, Methuen,MA 01844. Arrangement by the Burke-Magliozzi Funeral Home, ANDOVER. For additional information, please visit, www.burkemagliozzi.com.