Maura Burke Morey
Beloved Friend, Mother, Grandmother, and Community Leader
September 24, 1940 – June 10, 2024
Maura Burke Morey passed away peacefully on June 10, 2024, at the age of 83 from Alzheimer’s Disease. She was a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and friend who gave generously of her time, talents, and resources to the many people, causes, and institutions she held dear. Maura had a wonderful sense of humor, deep faith, and enduring love of family and friends.
Maura was born on September 24, 1940, to William and Helen Burke, the eldest of six siblings, and raised in Wellesley Hills, Massachusetts. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at Manhattanville College in 1962. After graduation, Maura moved to Paris, where she made lifelong friends and reveled in travel, art, and culture. Furthering her education at the University of Paris, Maura earned a Certificate from the École des Professeurs de Francaise a l’Étranger in 1964.
She met her husband, Robert W. Morey, Jr., in New York City, where they married on December 14, 1968. As newlyweds, they moved to San Francisco, settling in Marin County in 1970 where they raised their three children, Jennifer Morey Sutter (Garrett) of Princeton, New Jersey; Alison Morey Garrett (Mark) of Mill Valley, California; and Edward Burke Morey of Needham Heights, Massachusetts. They lived in Tiburon for 50 years, welcoming their many friends and family members to gatherings at their home with graciousness and joy. Often these celebrations were held in Maura’s beautiful gardens, which brought her peace and delight.
Maura’s cultural, educational, religious, and political involvements in San Francisco and throughout the Bay Area were many and varied, and they all reflected Maura’s unfailing dedication to service and her community. She made lifelong friends through her involvement in organizations. Maura served on the board of the Little Jim Club of California Pacific Medical Center and later as a board member of the Women’s Board of California Pacific Medical Center. She was a founding board member of the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance, and served on the President’s Council of the College of Marin, and was a trustee of both Manhattanville College and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
Maura and Bob were also members of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta and the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Maura cherished her commitment and service to the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, serving as president of the Asian Art Museum Foundation and as a commissioner of the Asian Art Commission of the City of San Francisco. Maura was on the New Asian Project Committee, responsible for the conversion of the Old Main Library building into the Asian Art Museum at the Civic Center, which opened in 2003. One of the highlights of her community involvement came on her birthday in 2009 when Maura was recognized by Mayor Gavin Newsom of San Francisco for “extraordinary contributions to her community.”
Beginning in 1980, Maura and Robert brought their children to Cape Cod to spend their summers in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. There Maura enjoyed time spent with her siblings, extended family, and lifelong friends. She adored and embraced the seaside village her parents chose for their own summer escape many decades prior. Maura loved her summers in Hyannis Port and the salt air. Most of all, it was the place where her grandchildren, Hawkins, Christabelle, Clementine, and Celestine Sutter, and Langan and Phoebe Garrett, would learn to sail, play golf and tennis, and collect seashells under the gaze of their grandmother. She taught them how to set a dinner table, prune hydrangeas, cook a Thanksgiving turkey, enjoy a puzzle table, and sit up straight. Maura taught them much more about how to meet challenges with courage, humor, and grace as she journeyed through Alzheimer’s Disease. She was loved and will be dearly missed.
Maura was predeceased by her husband, Robert W. Morey, Jr., on January 18, 2019. In addition to her children, son-in-laws, and grandchildren, she will be remembered by her siblings, Nancy Burke Solomon, Ellen Burke Ryan, Gail Burke Kingsley, William “Chip” Burke III, and Christopher Burke; their spouses; her nieces; nephews; and friends.
A vigil service and rosary were held Monday, June 24, 2024, at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church in San Francisco, and a funeral mass and committal were held on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, also at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund in Maura Burke Morey’s memory: https://curealz.org/outreach/in-memory/maura-burke-morey, or Cure Alzheimer’s Fund, 34 Washington St., Ste. 310, Wellesley, MA 02481.