Constance M. “Connie” (Graffum) Burke, 78 lifelong Ipswich resident,
died Easter Sunday April 4, 2010, in the Beverly Hospital following
her brief illness. She was the loving wife of the late Richard J.
Burke who died in 1996.
Born in Gloucester January 15, 1932, daughter of the late Edward and
Edna M. (Wile) Graffum, she was a 1949 graduate of Ipswich public
schools and a student of the former Catherine Gibbs School of Lynn.
Married 1953 in First Church in Ipswich, she made her home and
raised her family in Ipswich. For many years she was employed
as a teller at the First National Bank of Ipswich and the Essex
Bank, later the Sovereign Bank from which she retired.
In
addition to spending time with her family she enjoyed home crafts,
watching NASCAR racing, long rides with stops at her favorite local
restaurants, and her special friends, “the club girls.”
Connie was a member of Ipswich V.F.W. #1093 Ladies Auxiliary and a
lifelong member of the First Church in Ipswich and a member of
their Women's Guild.
She
is survived by a son, Richard E. Burke of Charlotte, NC; four
daughters, Linda A. Ryan and her husband Rich of Lowell, Sharon L.
West and her husband Donald of Dover, NH, Susan M. Bouranis and her
husband Scott of Claremont, NH and Debra A. Sweeney and her husband
Scott of Ipswich; eleven grandchildren, Mathew Bouranis of Newport,
NH, Christopher Bouranis of Austin, TX, Rachael Bouranis of
Claremont, NH, Jillian Ryan of Sleepy Hollow, NY, Heather Dalton, F.
Joseph Ryan, Jennifer Sweeney all of Lowell, Kandie Cook of Dover,
NH, Lori Roberts of Beverly, Sarah Teague of Seabrook and Nicole
Ryan of Concord, NH; eight great grandchildren; two brothers,
Robert Graffum of Rowley and James Graffum of Ipswich; two sisters,
Barbara Chapman of Exeter, NH and Doris Gagnon of Ipswich, and many
nephews and nieces. She was the sister of the late Norman Graffum
formerly of Ipswich.
Her
Funeral Service will be held Thursday 10 am in the First Church in
Ipswich, Meetinghouse Green, followed by interment in the Cowles
Memorial Cemetery, Ipswich. Family and friends are respectfully
welcomed. Visiting hours are Wednesday 4 to 8 pm in the
Whittier-Porter Funeral; Home, 6 High Street, Ipswich. Memorial
contributions in her name may be made to Friends of the Caldwell
Home, 16 Green Street, Ipswich, MA 01938.
