William Rittenhouse Burke, 95, died peacefully on Tuesday February 22, 2022.

Bill was born in Ashland, Kentucky on August 16, 1926 to Lucian B. Burke and Ruth W. Burke.  He was educated in Ashland schools and enrolled in Greenbrier Military School in Lewisburg, West Virginia for his junior and senior year of high school.  He graduated from Greenbriar in 1944 with a Lifetime Award for Academics and Athletics.  He gained a scholarship to West Virginia University in football and basketball.  After the first semester, he volunteered for immediate induction into the Army.  He completed basic training in Camp Hood, Texas and Fort Ord, California.  He was enroute to the South Pacific when the war ended and was stationed at Clark Field in the Philippines.  His group loaded up General Macarthur’s headquarters on ships in Manila and sent them to Tokyo, Japan.

His group was then sent to Japan, dodging a typhoon along the way and arrived at the Yokohama dock.  There, they gave up their arms and were assigned specialized jobs.  Bill was assigned to a finance department and paid the Troops in Japan until his discharge.

He then enrolled in the University of Louisville and thru the G.I. Bill and a basketball scholarship, graduated in Mechanical Engineering in 1950.  He then took a job with Union Bag Paper Company in Savannah, GA.  He was happily employed there for forty plus years in the bag division.  He enjoyed his jobs in production, sales, engineering and management.  He worked in Savannah, GA, New Hope, PA, Tifton, GA and then back to Savannah, where he retired as Manufacturing Manager of the eight, multiwall bag plants in the United States.

In 1953, he married Connie Davis in Christ Episcopal Church in Savannah, GA.  She was the love of his life.  They had two sons and moved to Isle of Hope, where they built a home – where both boys had a wonderful youth.  He and Connie became very involved with St. Thomas Episcopal Church there and when he was Senior Warden, they built the existing church.  John Ford was the Rector.  Bill maintained his involvement with the church, even when he and Connie moved.  When they returned to Savannah, he became Senior Warden again and they built the new parish hall 20 years after the original church.

When Connie and Bill moved back to Savannah, they lived on Skidaway Island at The Landings.  They thoroughly enjoyed their golf and friends.  They later moved to The Marshes of Skidaway.

In addition to his wife Connie, Bill leaves behind his two sons: William Rittenhouse Burke, Jr. (wife Mary) of Mims, FL, and Robert Winston Burke (wife Kathy) of Savannah, sister Irene Clower of Fernandina Beach, FL, grandchildren Lindsey Burke of Titusville, FL and Bill Burke of Tampa, FL, along with several nieces and nephews and numerous good friends.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, March 12, 2022 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Isle of Hope, 2 St. Thomas Avenue, Savannah, GA, 31406. All are invited to attend a reception at the church following the service.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that you consider a donation in Bill’s memory to St.Thomas Episcopal Church or Compassus Hospice of Savannah, 107 Southern Blvd, Suite 203, Savannah, GA, 31405.