When Hurricane Katrina hit, Francey Kanengiser Burke ’80 knew just what to do. The Cape May, N.J, resident gathered her sons, her co-workers, and her Rotary club connections and found a way to help.
Burke juggles as many roles today as she did when she attended Lafayette as an English major. Then she held down four jobs, edited the campus newspaper, and took a full course load — all at once. Today she is the director of advertising for Burke Motor Group, an integral leader in a local Rotary club with a long list of accomplishments, and a mother who has inspired her three sons to be as community service-minded as she is by working side-by-side with them.
Her role at Burke Motor Group, a third-generation family business, gave Burke the opportunity to raise money for hurricane relief.
“Our dealership has been supporting Rotary for some time, contributing over $100,000 in the last few years for scholarships, a local playground, and more,” she says. “The money is raised through a yearly golf tournament. This year we decided to send some of the proceeds to somewhere in the Gulf.”
A decision had to be made as to exactly where to send the money.
“My brother Andy is a journalist in Mississippi,” Burke notes. “Through his contacts we adopted the Rotary Club of Picayune, Mississippi, which is about 40 miles north of New Orleans. A relationship was forged.”
Burke’s sons wanted to present the $10,000 in person rather than sending it by mail and, if possible, work on rebuilding efforts during the trip. Burke set off before Christmas, picking up two of her sons from college on the way.
Rotary has been something the Burke family has had in common for 24 years. Lafayette is also a family bond.
“I met my husband Dave at Lafayette,” Burke says. “My son Doug graduated in 2004. He was a B student coming in and his professors and the curriculum inspired him so much that he earned honors and later went on to law school.”
Burke has been an alumni admissions representative for over 20 years, interviewing students and answering questions. She tells potential students of her appreciation for the diversity she experienced when she attended Lafayette. And she relays stories about the professors who impacted her most.
“[English] Professor[Robert] Bradford was such a dignified and wonderful teacher. He loved literature and passed that love on to me,” she says. “[Oliver Edwin Williams Professor of Languages] Rado Pribic made other cultures come alive. He had a complete zest for living that rubbed off on everyone.”
Clearly Francey Burke has embraced some of that zest as she goes about leading Rotary, her company and her family to help in so many ways in their own community and in communities as far away as Picayune, Miss.