David Burke, FDNY EMS deputy chief and West Babylon volunteer firefighter, dies of 9/11-related cancer at 61

They met in the emergency room at Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She worked in admitting, in charge of the patient intake paperwork. He was an EMT, bringing in patients.

Within months it went from flirtation to dating — and, within about a year, marriage.

David Burke just had that magnetic effect on her, Rosemarie Burke recalled Wednesday. "He was just such a nice guy," she said. "And, I liked the uniform."

A devoted husband and father, a dedicated EMS official with the FDNY, where he worked for almost four decades, developing critical programs for the department, David Burke died July 31 at his home in West Babylon following a brief but fierce battle with 9/11-related cancer. He was 61.

"He was an amazing, amazing man," Rosemarie said. "He was a family man. He loved his children very much. He gave his all to everybody. I know they always say, 'Oh, he was so amazing, so wonderful.' But this man? He really was."

A native of Plainview, the youngest of five children born to Louis and Rhoda Burke, David Louis Burke worked extensively at the collapsed World Trade Center site as part of rescue and recovery efforts after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, Rosemarie Burke said. Burke also was a volunteer for more than two decades with the West Babylon Fire Department, having served before that as a volunteer in Jericho.

A social media post from the FDNY noting Burke's death said: "This member bravely served this Department protecting life and property in the rescue and recovery at Manhattan Box 5-5-8087 World Trade Center."

"He was an impactful human being," said Yonatan Klein, deputy chief of FDNY's EMS operation, who served with Burke, who retired in June as an FDNY deputy chief of EMS Division 9 after 37 years. He added, "If I had to put it into just a few words, I would say knowledgeable, patient, courageous, persistent and loyal."

Worked on the pile

Rosemarie Burke said her husband had "worked the pile" at Ground Zero for months following the terrorist attacks. And, she said, he'd shown no signs of cancer — until he went for a routine physical on Oct. 31.

The couple had just returned from a dream cruise to Alaska, Rosemarie Burke said. "He'd just turned 60, we'd been married 35 years, it was great," she said.

Then, she said, her husband came home from that doctor's appointment.

"He said, 'Ro, you need to look at this,' " she said. "They thought he had a kidney stone, then they saw something on the liver."

By December, she said, her husband was in the hospital undergoing chemotherapy — only to find the cancer had gone from the liver and colon to the bone.

"In that short period of time," she said. "He knew."

In a phone interview Monday evening before he was scheduled to deliver remarks at a wake for Burke, Klein said Burke made an impact on the fire department in his years on the job. "He actually championed a pediatric asthma study, which helped shape medical protocols for how we treat children in New York City with asthma." 

Klein said Burke was also "the original EMS officer that created FDNY's rescue task force, which responds to active shooter events. ... Other contributions he made people wouldn't know about. Several years ago, the fire department had assumed responsibility of medical care at Rikers Island," Klein said of the jail. "He helped establish an EMS station within Rikers Island, the first of its kind."

Klein added, "He was probably one of the most dedicated people I've ever met in our profession." Klein also noted Burke's volunteer work, beginning in 2001, with the West Babylon Fire Department, which paid tribute to Burke as well on social media, saying Burke brought a "passion for EMS and a commitment to service that remained unwavering for over two decades."

Coach and mentor

West Babylon Fire Department Chief Steve Kamalic said in a phone interview that Burke "was a coach and mentor to many people here at the fire department."

He said Burke served in many capacities over the years, as a lieutenant, and then captain of a rescue unit and trustee of the rescue unit.

Kamalic also recalled Burke had a large personality.

"You knew when Dave was in the room. ... His demeanor toward people was amazing. He respected his position," adding, "He served his community well."

Burke is survived by Rosemarie, his wife of 36 years, and their two children, Daniel Burke and his wife, Michelle, and Megan Burke-Terysen and her husband, Daniel. Other survivors include: brothers Richard and Gary Burke and sisters Patricia Cahalin and Kathleen Winston; mother-in-law Phyllis Campanella; brother-in-law Joseph Campanella; sisters-in-law Lynn Burke and Judy Burke; 16 nieces and nephews; and 19 great-nieces and nephews.

"We had such a connection," Rosemarie Burke said. "The only thing I would change is what happened to him now, because he didn't deserve that. ... All the rest? I'd do it all over again."

Visitation was Monday at Lindenhurst Funeral Home with a funeral Mass on Tuesday at Our Lady of Grace Roman Catholic Church in West Babylon.

A private cremation followed.