She was born in Seattle, WA on August 17, 1929, to parents David and Grace Burke. She grew up with her siblings and surrounded by aunts, uncles and cousins in West Seattle and graduated from West Seattle High School, class of 1948.
Jeannette’s working career always involved her sewing talents; from working as a tailor for J.C. Penney, becoming an award-winning saleswoman at Singer Sewing Company and, upon retiring, creating and fabricating quilt top stitching designs for quilters on her long-arm quilting machine.
Jeannette was a life-long member in good standing of the Sisterhood of the Sewing Stash Club, and the “Now Where Did I Put My Yellow Ochre?” Association of Thurston County.
She was passionate about everything, but the primary expression of her many talents centered on anything having to do with sewing; whether it was garment construction or quilting, and painting; whether it was still life, landscapes, seascapes, or portraiture.
Jeannette is survived by her children Wallace, Vincent (Brandon, Jason, Scott, Stacie), Lynette (Jennifer, Michael), Jeannie (Geoff, Eleanor), Paul (Joshua, Paul Jr.) and Paulette (Rose, Thomas, Robert, Angela, Twyla), and by her sister Charlotte (ne Burke) Oliver (Renton, WA), and her brother Michael Burke (Las Cruces, NM). She is predeceased by her brother Ronald Burke (Gig Harbor, WA), as well as many nieces and nephews. She would want to acknowledge, especially, her niece Deborah and husband, Mike, for their many kindnesses, vital support and steadfast love.
Though small in physical stature, Jeannette possessed the energy of a small reactor. She was happiest when there were too many projects and so little time. She loved having something to look forward to doing and would often run down the list of half-finished, nearly-finished, and
quasi-finished projects in the hopper. In addition to sewing and painting, she found great pleasure and “therapy” in her annual gardening; planting new flowers and seeing them grow. She was a summer girl who loved the sunshine; the growing season was her favorite time of year.
When faltering health prevented her from venturing outside, she turned to cooking and the world of the “InstaPot”. She was an object lesson in finding ways to do something interesting wherever she could do them.
Throughout her lifetime she was keenly interested in changes in technology and how she could use them, and she was eager to try new applications and methods. In the early 1960s, she eschewed hand knitting for a modern knitting machine and, later on, owned at least three at one time. Why do one row of knitting when you can complete an entire sweater in a day? For a time she took up photography and turned the only bathroom (with a family of eight) into a dark room. Her children were relieved when she abandoned that venture.
Her zeal for sewing made her a perennial top saleswoman for the Singer Sewing Company. By Jeannette’s estimation, sewing was not a mere hobby, it was the bread of life, and she has a legacy of introducing many novices and motivating many others to explore and use their interests in sewing to the full. And she legitimized and elevated the essential pursuit of sewing in the eyes of many husbands. She never tired of solving problematic aspects of garment construction or pondering alternative uses for a sewing machine’s many gadgets. Her enthusiasm was contagious.
She took such pleasure in her arts and crafts pursuits that she wanted her family and friends to experience the joy of doing these things, too. It was undoubtedly a source of disappointment that, while we were very happy for her, we did not always have the natural bent or rise to her level of knowledge or enthusiasm, for example, of reconstituting cardboard cereal boxes into one-of-a-kind paper. We did marvel over her efforts at experimentation and the often beautiful, sometimes quirky, but always uniquely “Jeannette”, results.
It is just this elusive characteristic that true artists possess that set them apart from those around them with more pragmatic natures. Her interpretation of life came from this perspective and she expressed her love for her family and friends with her work-worn hands, her time, and with her God-given talents -- and in very practical ways -- while still nourishing her artist’s heart. We are so very grateful for the many reminders she left for us of her happy, creative spirit – in a painted rock, a book binding made of cardboard pulp, a cuddly quilt, or her not-quite-finished oil of “A Whale’s Tail.” Just as Jeannette created unique works of art, God made only one of her too.
She loved deeply. She grieved deeply. She lived deeply.
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