Margaret “Tighe” Burke, of Silver Spring, Maryland, peacefully passed away in her sleep Saturday evening, August 13, 2022, at Casey House hospice facility in Rockville, Maryland.
Tighe worked for many years as a sales representative selling medical supplies to nursing homes. She was last employed by McKesson, but had also worked at Prime Medical Supplies and NeighborCare, now known as Medline.
In addition to sales, Tighe worked part-time as a children’s face painter and as professional clown “Chicklets,” sometimes performing at the White House and other prestigious places in the Washington, D.C. area, sometimes meeting presidents and other high-ranking officials. She and husband, David, used to travel to New York City each year to see the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular at Radio City Music Hall. They would also pay tribute to John Lennon by visiting Strawberry Fields in Central Park, sometimes taking a horse and buggy ride to nearby Tavern on the Green, then catching a Broadway show.
Tighe struggled for three and a half years with cancer, first diagnosed in April 2019 with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma, which later turned into acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). David was her caregiver and advocate during that time.
Much thanks to the doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, for their valiant efforts to save her. And thanks to the medical team at Casey House hospice facility in Rockville, Maryland, for making her final days very comfortable – like Heaven on earth. And thanks to our many friends who visited her during the final days.
Tighe was preceded in death by her parents, Eugene H. and Catherine Marie Burke; step-mother, Ann Thorpe; and sister, Catherine Burke.
She is survived by her beloved husband, David Sharp; sister, Mary Ann Lyerly (John); brother, Eugene H. Burke, Jr. (Cathy); step-sister, Patricia Ann Sentz (Jim); many nieces and nephews; and two great-nephews.
Visitation and funeral service were held Monday, August 22, 2022, at Collins Funeral Home in Silver Spring, Maryland, followed by a graveside service at Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Aspen Hill, Maryland. A luncheon was held at Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge in Rockville, Maryland, and a Celebration of Life at Tighe and David’s home in Silver Spring, where David played guitar, sang and invited guests to share stories about their experiences with Tighe.
Memorial contributions may be made to American Cancer Society.