Gale was born in St. Hilaire, Minnesota on November 7, 1927. She was the youngest daughter of the late Erick Olaf Hagglund and Mabel Aubol Hagglund. She graduated from Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, Minnesota and later attended Moorhead State Teachers College in Moorhead, Minnesota. Gale then transferred to Montana State University in Missoula, Montana. She taught Jr. High School music in Kalispell, Montana as well as in Coquille, Oregon and Miles City, Montana. She later moved to Washington, D.C. and worked in sales for United Airlines. Gale married Stephen Patrick Burke of Chevy Chase, Maryland in 1952 and started a family. She later lived in the Philadelphia area where she returned to her love of choral music and sang with The Great Valley Singers. The family then moved to North Caldwell, New Jersey where, as President of The Women’s Club, she helped to start a Saturday school band for grade school children. She then moved on to the Hometown of Westport, Connecticut where the family lived until 1977. Music was always a large part of Gale’s life. She directed the Lutheran choir and joined The Fairfield County Choral where she sang at Carnegie Hall as well as various churches and venues throughout the United States and Europe. Later, she took a position with a law firm as a receptionist and then managed a retail store in Cos Cob, Connecticut. She also became an Administrative Assistant for an international can company in Stamford, Connecticut for 15 years. Gale retired in 1991 and moved to Ponte Vedra, Florida where she joined the choir at Christ Episcopal Church and handled a number of volunteer positions locally. She was a member of The Newcomers Club at the Beaches as well as The Long Time Newcomers Club. Finally, Gale moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2005 to be near one of her daughters and became a member of Quail Hollow Presbyterian Church in 2006 where she found many new friends.
Gale is preceded in death by her father, Erick; her mother, Mabel; her brother, Vernon; a sister, Doris; an ex-husband, Stephen Patrick Burke; and an infant daughter, Maren as well as an infant son. She is survived by her four children; daughter, Wendy Burke, daughter, Kathleen Burke, son, Stephen (Rick) Burke, and daughter, Cindy Burke; granddaughters, Katie and Emily Burke; son-in-law, Jeffrey Carson Floyd, and daughter-in-law, Hilda Burke.
A service of remembrance will be held on Saturday, September 21, 2024 at 2:00 pm at Quail Hollow Presbyterian Church, located at 8801 Park Rd, Charlotte, NC, 28210. A reception will then follow immediately after the service.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.mcewenmonroechapel.com for the Burke family.
McEwen Funeral Home of Monroe is honored to serve the family of Gale Hagglund Burke.
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