Shirley May Burk

Shirley May Burk age 82 of Fairfield, passed away Thursday, January 21, 2021, at Sunnybrook Living Care Center.

A Celebration of Life service with burial at Evergreen Cemetery will be held at a later date.

Cards and memorials may be mailed to Rosalie Munn, 122 Quail Circle, Hudson, WI 54016.

Shirley was born November 21, 1938, to Otto and Pauline (Richardson) Estle in Troy, Iowa.  She married Keith Burk on February 14, 1958 and later divorced.

Shirley graduated from Fairfield High School Class of 1957.  She trained as a cook under Chef John Bailey at Parsons College and was his assistant for several years.  She then worked as a CNA at Parkview Care Center followed by 13 years at Plexco and finished her career as a cook at Walton Cub, Fairfield Country Club and Nelson Nursing Home.  Her love for cooking began at an early age spending lots of time with her Grandma Richardson in the kitchen.  Her favorite times were spent with her family, babysitting several nieces and nephews and sharing her excellent cooking talents with all whom she knew.   She was an avid cookbook collector and assembled many of her own from clippings and favorites.  She read them all as you would a favorite novel.   Shirley was a member of the First Presbyterian Church, Order of Eastern Star (Chapter 39) and former Mother Advisor to Rainbow Girls in Fairfield.

Shirley will be missed by her son, Scott D. Burk of Fairfield; grandson, Nathan Burk of Fairfield; great granddaughter Tory Burk and step great grandson, Lee Winn; her siblings, Mary (Spike) Selig of Indianapolis, IN, George (Mary) Estle of Solon, Rosalie Munn of Hudson, WI; and sister-in-law Connie Estle of Fairfield and many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Otto and Pauline; and brothers, James Estle and John Estle; and sister-in-law Anna Mae Estle.

Her family extends the most heartfelt thank you to Sandy Nelson who has served as Shirley’s caregiver for the last ten and a half years.  Shirley referred to Sandy as her angel.  Family members are eternally grateful for Sandy’s unwavering support and care.  In recent past weeks Shirley had enjoyed Zoom meeting with her family and they thank the staff at Sunnybrook for accommodating that courtesy.