Nona Noble Burk Obituary (1931 - 2017)

WINTHROP ~ Nona Noble Burk, 86, of Winthrop, died August 30, 2017, at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta. She passed peacefully surrounded by her adoring family. She was born July 4, 1931, in Bridgton, the daughter of Dr. and Mrs. Fred 'Gib' G. and Edith 'Teddy' A. (Wood) Noble. Nona grew up in Bridgton with her younger sister Julie, and graduated in 1949 from Bridgton High School. She attended Fisher Secretarial School in Boston, Massachusetts. While she was at secretarial school, she took piano lessons at the Boston Conservatory of Music. In August 1953, while living in Marblehead, Massachusetts, she met the love of her life, Marshall 'Buck' Francis Burk, of Swampscott, Massachusetts, at Mattie's Bar. They eloped on October 23, 1953, in Gorham, New Hampshire. Nona and Marshall first lived on the University of Maine campus where Buck was finishing up his last year of college, with their first born son Will. Next they moved to Milo, followed by Rockland, where Blaine and Tedda were born, and finally landed in Winthrop, followed soon by the arrival of Becky. Nona and Marshall celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary in 2014. Buck passed away November 11, 2014. Nona retired as a legal secretary while employed by Attorney Peter B. Bickerman. She also worked for Bickerman when he was with Vandermeulen, Goldman & Allen. Prior to that, she was employed by Sumner H. Lipman of Lipman and Katz P.A., Bridget Secretarial Services for Norman C. Bourget, Esquire, and Clifford H. Goodall, Esquire, and by James D. Harrington, Esquire. She worked as a school librarian from 1979 to 1981 at Winthrop Middle School and as a teachers' aide and assistant librarian from 1973 to 1979 at Winthrop High School. Nona also worked as an assistant town clerk at the Winthrop Town Office, served on the Zoning Board, was a Notary Public, and was an activist for bringing fluoride to the local water system. When she got her first car, she took an Auto Mechanics for Women course through Winthrop Adult Education — so she could change her own oil and rotate her tires! Nona loved music, and could play classical and ragtime piano. She was an avid reader, and just finished rereading one of her favorites, 'Beaches Music.” Her favorite novel was 'Gone With The Wind,' a hardcover that belonged to her mom, which was a gift from her dad in 1939. Nona enjoyed a good game of bridge or cribbage, going to the Noble Camp on Rapid River, her morning coffee, gardening and arranging cut flowers, Wendy's French fries and burgers with Blaine, her childhood dolls and the extravagant doll wardrobe made by her mother. Nona learned to quilt at the Cohen Center, was an incredible cook and baker, an accomplished seamstress, loved watching songbirds from her kitchen window, was a New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox fan, and most recently enjoyed watching reruns of 'Blue Bloods' and old westerns. She loved to share stories about growing up in Bridgton, her time living in Boston, and time spent with her grandparents and great-grandparents. Nona heartily supported her children's athletic events and school functions — and always held an open door to her children's friends. Family gatherings brought great joy to Nona: egg hunts on Easter, fireworks on her July 4th birthday, and laughter and feasting on Thanksgiving and Christmas. She and Buck splurged one Christmas and treated their children and grandchildren to a vacation of a lifetime at Fort Meyer’s Beach in Florida. In their later years Nona and Marshall travelled throughout Europe, Alaska, and the Caribbean. She was predeceased by her brothers-in-law, Frank L. Burk Jr. and Richard Scoma. She is survived by her four children, Will Burk, and his companion, Ellen Rizeakos, of Saco, Blaine Burk, of Winthrop, Tedda Henry and her husband, Rick, of Augusta, and Becky Burk and her husband, Peter Colompos, of Jonesville, Vermont; seven grandchildren, Reid Burk and Kelsey Burk, both of Las Vegas, Daniel and Laura Burk, of Millinocket, Whitney (Henry) Pierce and her husband, Jason, of Windham, Lindsey Colompos and her companion, Nick Dente, of Granby, Massachusetts, Mitch Henry, of Augusta, and Riley Colompos, of Jonesville; her great-granddaughter, Hadley Pierce, of Windham; her sister, Julie Scoma, of Chicago, her sister-in-law Natalie Burk, of Hilton Head, South Carolina, and a special cousin of Buck's, Fred Burk and his wife, Rosie, of Newry, and their families. Visiting hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, September 9, 2017, at Roberts Funeral Home, Bowdoin Street, Winthrop. Interment will be held at a later date. Donations in her memory can be made to Winthrop Public Library Foundation, P.O. Box 580, Winthrop, ME 04364, www.baileylibrary.org/fundraising, the Good Shepherd Food Bank/Winthrop Food Pantry, P.O. Box 1807, Auburn, ME 04211-1807, www.gsfb.org/donate/; and Kennebec Valley Humane Society, http://pethavenlane.org/ Memories, condolences, photos and videos may be shared with the family on the obituary page of our website at www.khrfuneralhomes.com