1956–November 29, 2002
Monday, December 2, 2002
SPRINGFIELD - Thomas Stanton Burke, 46, of Route 114 died Friday at Tuckerman's Ravine on Mt. Washington. Born in Barre, Vt., he was the son of Stanton and Phyllis (Coxon) Burke. He attended Graniteville Elementary School, graduated from Spaulding High School in Barre in 1974 and studied architectural drafting at Vermont Technical College in Randolph. He married Polly Stedman in 1986 and settled in Springfield. As an architectural designer, he worked for Yankee Barn Homes in Grantham and later for several builders in central New Hampshire. Most recently, he worked as a design technician for commercial and residential projects for Sheerr McCrystal Palson of New London. In earlier years, he was a member of the Graniteville Presbyterian Church. He enjoyed hiking, mountaineering, mountain biking and skiing and was active in many community projects. Survivors include his former wife and best friend, Polly, of Elkins; a son, Eli Burke of Elkins; his mother, Phyllis Burke of South Barre, Vt.; a sister, Susan Brewster and her husband, Lee, of Gilmanton; two nieces, Kristin Boucher of Williston, Vt., and Jennifer O'Connor of Granby, Colo.; a nephew, Eric Brewster of Henniker; a grandniece; and two grandnephews. His father, Stanton, and a brother, Steven John Burke, died previously. There will be no calling hours. A service of remembrance will be held tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. at the Graniteville Presbyterian Church in Graniteville, Vt. Following the service, family and friends will gather downstairs at the church. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Thomas S. Burke Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 45, Elkins 03233, which will fund a skateboard park project in which he was involved.
December 1, 2002
By JENNA RUSSELL AND PETER DEMARCO The Boston Globe
PINKHAM NOTCH, N.H. — Of all the hikers drawn to the harsh, sometimes deadly challenge of Mount Washington in winter, Scott Sandberg seemed as ready as any: an experienced outdoorsman who understood the risks of alpine climbing, who always went to the mountains prepared, according to friends.
But in Tuckerman Ravine, one of the Northeast’s loveliest yet most dangerous climbing destinations, even the best-prepared hikers are at risk. Friday morning, after three days of snow at Mount Washington, an avalanche surprised seven climbers in the ravine, killing two men: 46-year-old Thomas Burke of Springfield, N.H., and formerly of Barre, Vt., and Sandberg, 32, an ardent environmentalist who lived with his wife and young daughter in Arlington, Mass.
“He loved rock climbing, ice climbing, and hiking, and he was incredibly committed to it,” said Sandberg’s friend John Horst, who worked with him at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study in Cambridge. “He did a lot of training, and he wouldn’t exceed his capacity. He understood the risks, which is part of why it shocks me.”
At least 130 people have been killed on Mount Washington since 1849 — more than on any other mountain in North America — and even the most experienced hikers aren’t immune to danger on the mountain, said Nicholas Howe, author of “Not Without Peril: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Misadventure on the Presidential Range of New Hampshire.” He noted Saturday that trained rescue workers have also been killed on the mountain.
“The fact that you’re experienced does not protect you from trouble,” he said. “Accidents are exactly that. They happen when you’re not expecting them.”
Chris Joosen, a snow ranger for the U.S. Forest Service, said Friday’s avalanche started after a group of three hikers reached the steep, icy crest of the bowl-shaped ravine, up a 1,000-foot slope. The snow swept past them, burying Burke, and hit two other pairs of hikers below. The middle pair, roped together and bolted to the surface with “ice screws” midway up the slope, escaped unhurt.
But below them, at the base of the ravine, Sandberg and Richard Doucette of Watertown, Mass., his climbing partner, were just putting on their ropes, preparing to ascend, when the avalanche hit, the ranger said. Doucette survived, shielded by a rocky outcrop, but Sandberg was carried away by the snow and buried in a field of debris that stretched 400 feet.
Both victims were found just two to 3 feet below the surface of the snow, after a two-hour search. Both died from massive head and neck injuries, a medical examiner’s report showed.
Richard Coyne, 45, of Berlin, Vt., was found when rescuers spotted his hand sticking out of the snow. He suffered a broken shoulder. “I lost my best friend,” he said from his hospital bed Saturday, referring to Burke. The third member of their party, Matthew Couture of Vermont, was pulled from the snow unhurt.
None of the seven hikers was carrying avalanche transmitters, which emit a frequency used to locate buried climbers, Joosen said.
Avalanches are common in the area in winter — the White Mountains see about 100 every year — and a moderate avalanche warning was posted at the ravine on Friday morning. But veteran hikers said that would be unlikely to stop them. “Most people wouldn’t bat an eye at that,” said Eric Engberg of Westborough, Mass., a longtime climber who served with Sandberg on the mountaineering committee of the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Boston chapter. Doucette, who climbed Friday with Sandberg, is the committee’s chairman.
Hikers’ lack of fear is a problem, said Joosen, the snow ranger.
“We generally see people so eager to do their activity that even when they see avalanche warnings, they ignore them,” he said. “It’s a classic situation we see in avalanches all over the world — once they’ve made it to the mountain, they don’t want to go home.”
Most avalanche deaths occur in moderate avalanche hazards, he said.
Saturday, Tuckerman Ravine was busy with hikers and ice-climbers carrying crampons and backpacks; some hadn’t heard yet about the two deaths. Don Chappell, 52, of Wendell, Mass., was hiking with his family. “That’s good to know,” he said at the news. “I guess we won’t go up as far as I was planning.”
The moderate avalanche warning was posted Friday just after 7 a.m. at the trailhead and at Hermit Lake, a half-mile from the ravine itself. Frank Cote of Springvale, Maine, climbing from the Pinkham Notch Visitors Center with his wife Saturday, said he wouldn’t have climbed Friday with the moderate warning.
“Do I have a transmitter? No. Am I going to buy one this weekend? Yes,” said Cote, who described the avalanche transmitter as wallet-sized and priced at about $300.
At Tuckerman Ravine, conditions are prime for avalanches, rangers said, because of strong northwesterly winds that blow snow onto the ravine’s slopes. The ravine where the two climbers were killed Friday has been the site of a number of avalanches in the past few years, according to Maury McKinney, president of the International Mountain Climbing School and a onetime rescue worker stationed on the mountain.
McKinney suspected that a rainstorm several weeks earlier contributed to the avalanche. Rain from the storm formed a layer of ice in some areas of the mountain, he said, and snow later fell on top of the ice but bonded poorly with the surface, creating conditions ripe for an avalanche.
The first avalanche last year was also in November, Joosen said. “If the snow potential is large enough for skiing or climbing, it’s big enough to have an avalanche,” he said. “As soon as people want to be there, that’s when there’s the risk.”
Friends described Sandberg as gentle and outgoing, and devoted to his young daughter. In addition to the Appalachian Mountain Club, he was active in the Access Fund, another hikers group dedicated to preserving access to climbing destinations and promoting environmentally responsible hiking.
At Radcliffe, where he worked in facilities management and was known as the “recycling king,” he won an award from the city of Cambridge two years ago for running an ambitious campaign that increased the recycling rate from 25 to 72 percent, said Horst.
Sandberg tried to help rescue another hiker on a trip to California last summer, Horst said, but the hiker died.
“It reinforced his sense of risk, and his belief that he had to know what he was doing,” Horst said.
Engberg said he probably won’t climb at Tuckerman Ravine this winter as a result of the accident. But he will continue climbing.
“But probably for the rest of my life, when I go to that spot, I will think about it,” he said.
Eli Burke conceived the idea for a skateboard park envisioned and sold it to the town, following the loss of his dad Tom Burke. Tom was a very active in outdoor sports and deeply involved with town kids and recreational activities.
Many thanks for making this skateboard park a reality go out to:
Photos taken by Sonya & John Chiarella June, 2007
BARRE - Phyllis Pearl Burke, 93, passed away Monday, June 17, 2013, at the Forestview Manor in Meredith, N.H.
Born on Jan. 15, 1920, in Barre, she was the daughter of John and Nellie (Canning) Coxon. She attended local schools and graduated from Spaulding High School in 1938.
On Dec. 2, 1943, she married Stanton L. Burke in Barre. Following their marriage, they made their home in Graniteville for many years before moving to South Barre. He died on Feb. 13, 1998. In 2003, she moved to Gilmanton, N.H., and made her home with her daughter and son-in-law for eight years before moving to the Forestview Manor Assisted Living in Meredith, N.H.
Phyllis was a bookkeeper at the Beck and Beck Granite Business for over 20 years.
In earlier years, she was an active member of the Graniteville Presbyterian Church and the Eastern Star. While living in Gilmanton, she attended the Gilmanton Community Church.
Phyllis was a quiet and gentle woman who took pleasure in taking care of her home and family. She enjoyed both flower and vegetable gardening, knitting, crocheting, reading and spending precious time with her family.
She is survived by her daughter, Susan Brewster, and her husband, Lee, of Gilmanton, N.H.; four grandchildren, Eric Brewster, Kristin Boucher, Jennifer Hughes and Eli Burke; a sister, Lois Garside, and her husband, Robert, of Portsmouth, N.H.; nieces and nephews.
Besides her husband, she was predeceased by two sons, Thomas Stanton Burke and Steven John Burke, and two sisters, Thelma McCready and Shirley Sartelle.
Her graveside service will be held on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, at 2 p.m. in the Wilson Cemetery in Websterville. There are no calling hours.
Contributions in her memory may be made to the Graniteville Presbyterian Church, 3 Highland Crofts, Graniteville, VT 05654.
The Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral Home, 7 Academy St., Barre, is in charge of the arrangements.
Published June 20, 2013 in Times Argus, Barre-Montpelier, Vermont
Hooker & Whitcomb Funeral Home
7 Academy Street Barre, VT 05641
(802) 476-3203