Special to The Paris News
August 17, 2003

 

James “Jim” Burke, 55, of Paris died Friday, Aug. 15, 2003, at his residence after a courageous battle with lung cancer.

Funeral services are set for 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 18, in Gene Roden’s Sons Funeral Home Chapel with eulogies given by his close friends and family. The Saddle Shop Band will be honoring him by playing live at his funeral. Interment will follow in Long Cemetery under the direction of Gene Roden’s Sons Funeral Home.

The family will receive friends from 10 until 11 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 17, at Roden Funeral Home. There will be a benefit for family and friends from 2 until 9 p.m. Sunday at the Paris Elks Lodge, with five live bands and a silent auction.

He had recently been hospitalized because of complications from lung cancer and had been brought home to live his final days peacefully and happily with family and close friends.

He was born James Edmund Burke on March, 16, 1948, in Fort Lewis, Wash., the son of Leroy and Miriam Fulfer. In 1959, when he was 11, the family moved from California to Powderly. He spent the remainder of his youth in Powderly. He married Irene Bell on Oct. 30, 1992, in Paris.

He was an amazing artist in leather, a designer and craftsman. He was a self proclaimed “artist in leather and holster maker to the stars.” All of his family and friends agreed with this statement: “Jim was one of a kind, a completely unique individual. If you’ve seen and met him you will never be able to forget him; his character, personality and image are unforgettable.” He was a loyal and good friend. he was respected by many, loved by all, and will be dearly missed by family and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Survivors include his wife, Irene, of Paris; stepsons, Dwayne, Phillip and Joey Smith all of Paris, Kyle Smalley of Sulphur Springs and Kerry Smalley of Frisco; stepdaughter, Nikki Smalley of Paris; sister, Jinx Yoder and husband, Lyle, of Clardy and their daughter, Corbi; stepmother, Ruth Burke of Pattonville; and 10 step-grandchildren and many friends.

Pallbearers will be Jimmy Darnall, Steve Jordan, Clint Campbell, Phillip Smith, Wesley Seay and John Moon. Honorary pallbearers will be Dwayne Smith, Kriss Ballard, B.J. Good, Butch Kenney, Will Sherwood and Dan Parham.