[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 108 (Monday, July 30, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1469-E1470]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       A TRIBUTE TO WALTER BURKS

                                 ______
                                 

                       HON. STEPHANIE TUBBS JONES

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 30, 2001

  Mrs. JONES of Ohio. Mr. Speaker, I regret that I will be unable to 
attend the homegoing services for your husband, father, brother, and my 
friend, Walter Burks. Please accept this letter in my absence.
  I observed Walter Burks from a far as a teen, working in the 
campaigns of the late Ambassador Carl Stokes, and the Honorable 
Congressman Louis Stokes. I came to admire this man some called the 
``Silver Fox'' (silver for the hair color and fox for his leadership 
skills), as he lead the Department of Personnel of the City of 
Cleveland, in the cabinet of then Mayor Carl B. Stokes. My summer 
internship in the Department of Public Utilities gave me more 
opportunities to see him in action. He seldom raised his voice and 
understood the important roll he played in assuring that everyone had 
access to employment opportunities with the City of Cleveland.
  As I matured and decided to run for public office, Walter was always 
there to support and encourage me. After public office, Walter, even in 
his private business continued to work to improve the lives of the 
people of his community. His housing developments are testament to that 
work.
  My only regret is that I didn't have a chance to say goodbye. So 
Walter, since I know you are looking down upon us, Thank You, I Love 
You, and God Bless You. Rest well and if we do as you have done, we 
will meet again.
  I join with the residents of the 11th Congressional District, who 
mourn the lost of a great civic leader, political activist, family man, 
and friend.

                   [From the Cleveland Plain Dealer]

    Walter Burks, 77, Was Builder, Civic Leader, Political Activist

                         (By Richard M. Peery)

                         Plain Dealer Reporter

       Shaker Heights.--Walter Burks, 77, a developer and 
     political activist who built more than 200 homes in 
     Cleveland, died Thursday at University Hospitals.
       Burks was a former trustee of Cleveland State University. 
     He served on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections and the 
     State Board of Education. Mayor Carl B. Stokes appointed him 
     personnel director and chairman of the Civil Service 
     Commission.
       In 1974, he formed Burks Electric Co. and participated in 
     commercial and public building projects, including the 
     rebuilding of the Regional Transit Authority's Shaker rapid 
     line.
       Burks was born in Cleveland. He attended East Technical 
     High School and studied engineering at Fenn College.
       Drafted into the Marine Corps during World War II, he was a 
     sergeant in an engineers unit on Eniwetok and the Marshall 
     Islands in the Pacific. After the war, he and his first wife, 
     Cynthia, built a home on E. 147th St. in Mount Pleasant. 
     Although banks refused to lend to nonwhites in that area, he 
     obtained financing from a black insurance company. He later 
     helped friends build homes nearby.

[[Page E1470]]

       Burks worked as a mail clerk for Cleveland Municipal Court 
     and was promoted to supervisor of the trustee division, but 
     he spent evenings and weekends on construction projects. 
     After he joined Stokes' staff in the 1960s, he put special 
     effort into hiring and promoting minorities.
       As a builder, Burks concentrated in the 1980s on converting 
     former schools into apartments for the elderly. When he was 
     accused of failing to follow complicated HUD regulations, he 
     said the fault lay with the government. A jury cleared him.
       In 1989, Burks undertook what was considered a high-risk 
     project when he constructed Glenville Commons, the first new 
     homes to be built in the area in more than 50 years. Its 
     success was followed by a surge of home building in the city.
       At the behest of Mayor Michael R. White, a former business 
     partner, a park on Parkview Dr. in Glenville was named for 
     him.
       Burks and his wife, the former Charmaine Colwell, lived in 
     Shaker Heights.
       He also is survived by a son, Dr. David of Ann Arbor, 
     Mich.; a daughter, Karen Bailey of Richmond Heights; three 
     grandchildren; two sisters; and five brothers.
       Services will be 10:30 a.m. at Antioch Baptist Church, 8869 
     Cedar Ave., Cleveland.
       Arrangements are by E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home of 
     Cleveland.

     

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