Burke was born in 1957 to D. Gene and Marylyn McCrory in Oklahoma City. After he graduated from Putnam City High School in 1976, Burke received his B.S. in Business Administration, Management Services from Oklahoma State University in 1983. He joined the Oklahoma Tax Commission full time in 1984 where he worked for more than 30 years in the Commission’s Information Technology group in multiple roles including as Network Engineer. Burke retired from the Commission in 2016 allowing him to pursue his love of family, acting and photography.
Burke was an avid OSU alumnus rooting on his favorite Cowboys in all sports and OSU alumni in professional sports especially the NFL.
Burke was an active member of the Guthrie Scottish Rite for nearly 20 years achieving 32nd degree status and KCCH honors. He served as Venerable Master of the Guthrie Lodge of Perfection in 2014.
Burke’s love for acting lead him to minor roles in several movies including The Posthuman Project (2014).
During college, Burke became involved in the SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism), a historical reenactment organization, in the Oklahoma and Texas region (known as the Ansteorra Kingdom). An active member for more than 40 years, Burke (a/k/a Burke Kyriell MacDonald) achieved the high honor of Knighthood and also served as Baron of the Wiesenfeuer Barony in OKC.
Family was very important to Burke from researching the ancestry of his Irish-Scottish heritage to simply being part of a large family. He was predeceased by his father and mother, Gene and Marylyn. He is survived by his brother, Bryan McCrory and wife, Gayle; their sons and family, Tommy McCrory and wife, Meg, their children Anna Margaret and Adelaide, and Taylor McCrory and wife, Bethany, their children Evey, Caleb and Eden; his father’s widow, Judy Beth McCrory; her family, son Tom Blalock and wife Vi, their children, Karli Blalock, Chase Blalock, Kathryn Blalock, and Will Blalock; and daughter Kelly Hancock’s (deceased) children and family, Bailey Hancock, her child Liam, and Braxton Hancock.
Services will be held at Hahn-Cook/Street & Draper in Oklahoma City on Friday, October 29, 2021 at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Guthrie Scottish Rite Charitable and Education Foundation, PO Box 70, Guthrie, OK 73044. The Foundation focuses on treatment of childhood language disorders, partnering with Oklahoma State University in the OSU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic in Stillwater.
