Steven V. Burke of Monroe, Connecticut, passed away suddenly at age 57 on December 6, 2019.

Steven was born on August 2, 1962, in St. Paul, Minnesota; grew up in Arlington, Virginia; and spent most of his adult life in New Jersey and Connecticut. He was a man who could sit down with anyone and ask questions they’d never been asked with a vocabulary as vast as a word-of-the-day calendar. He was enthusiastic and kind as a favorite grade-school teacher and possessed an empathetic nature as immediate as a best friend.

Steven proudly earned both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Virginia Tech and would never fail to remind everyone his education was fully compensated by his Washington Post paper route. He had a distinguished and diversified career as a statistician, first in consumer products and eventually in pharmaceutical clinical research. He was extremely dedicated to his work and passionate about supporting his family. His philosophical mind contributed to him being an avid reader and endearingly long-winded conversationalist.

Steven enjoyed trips to the ocean, inhaled bran of all kinds, possessed an uncanny Dairy Queen radar, could name most any song and artist within a moment, cherished walks and bike rides with his wife, reveled in Zen literature, and—though he experienced a concurrently hilarious and distressing treadmill accident years ago—maintained a fervor for running. His greatest enjoyment was simply found in time spent with his family and friends—including the furry ones. Steven was a devoted, excitedly-in-love husband and a genuinely wonderful son, brother, uncle, friend, and colleague. He will be deeply missed.

Read his full obituary.