Mary Burke Moreland Barker
July 16, 1932 – April 13, 2014
Columbus, Georgia
Mary Burke Moreland Barker, 81, of Columbus, Ga., passed away April 13, 2014, at Emeritus at Heritage Hills. A memorial service will be held Tuesday, April 15, 2014 at 4:00 p.m. at Striffler-Hamby, 4071 Macon Road Columbus. The family will receive friends from 3:00-4:00 p.m. prior to the service.
Mary Burke was born in Selma, Alabama to the late Aldonia Kelley and French Burke Moreland. Mary Burke received her Bachelor Degree from Judson College and a Master in Social Work from Tulane University. She retired from the Alabama Department of Family and Children Services after 36 years of service. She continued to work following her retirement to assist the adoptions of special needs children in Alabama and as a contracted social worker for a nephrology clinic. Mary Burke was an active member of the Historic District Preservation Society from its inception in the 1970s. She was an avid antique collector and loved her home in the Columbus Historic District.
She is survived by her husband of 46 years, Alfred Lawrence Barker, and her daughter, Elizabeth Kelley Barker. The family is grateful to St. Luke United Methodist Church’s Respite Care Ministry, Columbus Hospice, Heritage Hills, and her caregiver Donna Foster.
Mary Burke was a loving, kind, and strong woman. She will be missed by all who knew her.