Martin, Thomasine Burke
January 1939 – December 21, 2021
Loved adventure and destination alike, tired of the adventure of illness and on Tuesday the 21st
She was born in Troy, NY, in January 1939, to Frank and Clarinda Burke. The fourth of five daughters (Mollie, Frankie, Paddy, Tommie and Billie), the “Burke Girls”, are now reunited in heaven … and if we’re very quiet … we can probably hear them.
A graduate of the Catholic Central High School and a proud alumna of the Mildred Elly Secretarial School, our Thomasine embarked on a self-directed journey not only to see the world but to organize it, bring it into submission and make big bows on all parts to tie that stood still at Christmas time.
She was a quintessential Navy wife and world-class mother who inspired her two daughters to lead courageous lives, but within the parameters of the Baltimore catechism. What might seem like competing interests, but she totally got it working. Like everything she did, she was the best kind of hype as a parent. The hand of a daughter in each hand who faces every movement and challenge with excitement – do not worry.
Over a bowl of rice crispies floating in green milk (she colored the sugar by hand depending on the holidays), her youngest child suggested that she consider returning to work. It was an idea she happily accepted to work for Hertz and, at a moment when the administrators’ circle was coming into being, to become production manager at the Katharine Gibbs Secretariat School.
She learned the love of her life, Dr. Alfred J. Martin Jr., at the most accidental investigation into history, and welcomed her new roles as stepmother, doctor’s wife, law student’s spouse, and, ultimately, Santa Fe citizen. Together they traveled the world – from Europe to Egypt – but were always happy to return to their homeland in the high desert, where she loved to entertain family and friends.
Here in Santa Fe, Tommie built an additional “found family” through her work building Als Practice, the Department of Health and the Del Corazon Hospice. She really loved the friends she made there.
She prayed the rosary like some people listen to the radio or watch TV – all the time. If you ask for her opinion (which you should never do unless you want the unvarnished truth) and her lips moved, she was probably praying … and maybe not for you.
She loved “her people”, bargain fashion, Navy and Notre Dame football, chic hats and – most recently – the Caramel Brownie McFlurry. She loved Al more than anything.
When given the opportunity to offer advice, she analyzed two Nevers and an overarching topic. “Don’t miss an opportunity to do the right thing. Never miss the chance to tell the people you love that you love them. Love is not a finite concept.”
She is missed in her trademark, delicious baked goods and fancy hats, but above all as an ambassador of infinite love.
She leaves her husband Dr. Alfred J. Martin Jr .; their daughters Amy Solo (Brian) and Tracy Grady (David); Stepchildren, Joe Martin (Karen), William Martin and Dr. Amy Elizabeth Martin Galeo (Tony); the grandchildren they adored, Burke, Marjorie, Jake (Allyson), Ginna, Ben, Clay, Gentry (Emily), Rebecca, Hailey, Claire, and Dante; as well as the cherished friends she considered family and loved so much. You know who you are
Thomasine’s MERRY MASS was held on December 29th in Santa Fe, NM. The DIGGING for Thomasine will take place on Wednesday, January 5th, 2022 at 11 a.m. at Forest Lawn Cemetery, Omaha, NE. Instead of flowers, Thomasine asks for a donation to her beloved Carmelites: Discalced Carmelites of Santa Fe, Carmelite Monastery, 49 Mt Carmel Rd, Santa Fe, NM, 87505
BERARDINELLI FAMILY FUNERAL HOUSE
Santa Fe, NM 505-984-8600
Published by Omaha World-Herald on January 2, 2022.
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