Denison Dewayne Burke born 10/9/33 in Morton, TX to Shelton Penn Burke and Iva Mae Lackey Burke.
He grew up and attended school in Morton where he was active in football, pole vaulting, baseball and band.
One of his first jobs was road construction working with his brother, Buster. He said they were really good at shooting grade.
He then worked for an oil company Klaus Exploration Co. as a surveyor and surveyed most of the Texas panhandle. During this time, he met Shirley Underwood in Dimmitt TX. Dewayne would work in the field surveying until the heat waves got too bad and then he would come in and go to work at the service station. They were married in Clovis, NM on 10/2/52. She was 16 and he was 18. Even though Shirley was only 16, she knew if you found a guy who would work 2 jobs, he was a keeper.
In 1953, they moved to Sapulpa where he went to work at Bartlett Collins Glass Co running a burn off machine. Shirley couldn’t work there because she still wasn’t 18. He worked there for 1O years.
He then spent 2 years in the military. He did his basic training in Fort Chaffee, AR and was then sent to Ft Knox, KY for truck and track schooling. After finishing his training, he was sent to Korea for 18 months. He was in charge of the motor pool and was on the 38thparallel line.
In 1960 he went to work at North American Aviation in Gulfport MS. He worked on the Hound Dog and Saturn Five missiles where security clearance was required with the Federal Government.
In 1965 he went to work for Nordam Aviation repair station, a company he helped to start, where he was supervisor and an FAA Inspector. While here, he flew to CA and did repair work on the helicopter that batman and bat boy used. He also repaired a helicopter in Oregon that was sitting in the top of a tree. Once Dewayne was finished, the pilot was able to fly the helicopter out of the trees. He retired from Nordam in 1985.
He then helped start Helicomb and Nordam Composite and finally retired when he was 72 years old.
After retirement- he and Shirley drove for Avis rental cars part time. They also made several long trips in their 5th wheel and vacationed in Hawaii.
When he was 82, he started having short term memory problems. They decided to not make anymore long tips in their RV so in 2017 they bought a place on the lake. Fishing and hunting were the joy of his life, especially with his family.
Dewayne is survived by his wife of 67 years, Shirley of Sapulpa; son, Michael of Sapulpa; son, Dusty and his wife, Regina and their daughter, Emilee of Broken Arrow; daughter, Tonya lnhofe and her husband, Randy and son, Dawson of Berryhill. Dawson is serving in the Marine Corp.
2 brothers, Buster Stevens and wife, Doris and Tom Burke both in Texas. A sister-n-law, Linda Phillips of Sapulpa and brothers-n-law, Tom Underwood and his wife, Chris and Bruce Underwood and his wife Kathy residing in Tulsa. Many nieces and nephews.
Dewayne was preceded in death by his mother and father; and brother, Kenneth Burke.
Dewayne was a Christian, he was Baptist. He was a Sunday school teacher, music director, and a deacon for 55 years. He loved working with children and teenagers.
Visitation will be held from 6-8 pm on Friday, June 28, 2019 with Funeral services following at 10 am on Saturday, June 29, 2019 both to be held at Smith Funeral Home, 1208 S Main St, Sapulpa, OK. Interment to follow at Green Hill Memorial Gardens, Sapulpa, OK. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Smith Funeral Home, 1208 S Main St, Sapulpa, OK.