Linda Lee Burke

Linda L. (Tompkins) Burke passed away on Tuesday, February 17, 2026 at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, PA. She was 84 years old.

She was born in Mount Kisco, NY to Dorothy H. (Riegelman) Tompkins and Warren C. Tompkins on December 1, 1941.

When Linda was young, her father moved her family upstate to Elmira, NY upon accepting a position with Thatcher Glass. Thatcher Glass took her small family briefly to Van Nuys, CA, a suburb of Los Angeles in the summer of 1955, which coincided with the opening of Disneyland, a wonderful family memory. Thatcher Glass also moved the family to Streeter, IL, where Linda made cherished and lasting friendships and fell in love with the Midwest. But her family eventually returned and settled in West Elmira for the duration of their lives.

Linda graduated from Elmira Free Academy in 1959, the Arnot Ogden School of Nursing in 1963 and remained committed to the reunion committees of each. Upon graduating from nursing school, she joined the staff at Arnot Ogden Hospital and worked until the birth of her first child, at which time she decided to focus on parenting her family. Linda returned to nursing once her youngest was in junior high school, opting to shake things up by accepting a position as a school nurse at Horseheads Middle School. Aside from the lifelong friendships she cultivated, this position had the added benefit of tormenting her youngest daughter who was a student there at the time. Linda enjoyed years with her wonderful colleagues at the school, retiring from her career on July 1, 2006. At that time, she settled into a lovely life rife with hobbies, each of which were creative.

Linda was an avid reader who loved to cook. She enjoyed learning and perfecting various recipes. Linda had a love of plants, and her gardens were always beautiful. She learned calligraphy and loved it so much she taught classes for a time. She could sew, crochet, knit, and quilt beautifully. Every member of Linda's family has been gifted with a perfectly designed and personalized quilt to cherish forever. But Linda's talents excelled when she and John started spending winters in Florida where Linda began to paint, a talent which blossomed.

The day before Linda passed, one of her oldest and dearest friends briefly left her husband six floors above the ICU to come down and surprise Linda with a precious frame of two ladies with the caption "It takes a long time to grow an old friend." While unable to voice her appreciation, Linda was moved to tears. Her friendships were always a staple of her happiness. Whether these bonds were created in childhood, high school, nursing school or beyond: the neighborhood ladies of Landau Drive, the nurses of the Horseheads School System, the "Big Flats Mad Hatters" Red Hat group, the "Wednesday Night Dinner Gang," the golf leagues of Chemung Canal Trust Company, the Ladies League of Soaring Eagles, The Gardens of Parrish, the Art Club of The Gardens of Parrish, or her small and intimate knitting group - Linda's many friendships were a cornerstone of her life. She cherished everyone who comprised these tight knit groups.

Linda is survived by her husband of 61 years, John E. Burke; her children, Patricia M. of Parrish, FL, John W., and Shannon K. both of Horseheads, NY; her daughter-in-law, Cornelia (Gillich) Burke of Sohren, Germany; grandsons, Dennis P. of Rheinbollen, Germany, John D. (fiancée Melli Webber) of Kappel, Germany, and Dakota J. of Koln, Germany; cousin and best friend, Evie (Ritchie) Schlauch of Dover, DE; countless cousins, and too many special friends to list individually out of fear we will inadvertently leave someone unnamed.

Family and friends are invited to gather at McInerny Funeral Home, 502 W. Water St., Elmira on Saturday, March 7, 2026 from 10AM-11:45AM. A funeral service will follow at 12 noon. 

Flowers are welcome or you may donate to the charity of your choice in Linda's memory.

The family would like to recognize the special individuals with whom this journey would have been exponentially more difficult. They are the in-home teams of Family Services, Physical Therapy of Guthrie, and the Chemung County Certified Home Health Agency. We are also grateful to the wonderful team of professionals at Guthrie Robert Packer Hospital with a special shout out to the nurses of the ICU without whom her family would have been rudderless in Linda's final days/hours. The level of care they provided was unparallelled!