[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 15666]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 HONORING TALMAGE V. BURKE FOR OVER 50 YEARS OF SERVICE TO THE CITY OF 
                                ALHAMBRA

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ADAM B. SCHIFF

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 19, 2003

  Mr. SCHIFF. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor Mayor Talmage Burke. 
In the year that marks the City of Alhambra's 100th anniversary, Mayor 
Talmage Burke is setting a record of his own. On May 27, the 85-year 
old Talmage Burke took the oath of office as the Mayor of Alhambra for 
the 15th time. This achievement affords him the longest record of 
publicly elected service of any official in the State of California and 
certainly one of the longest records of public servitude in the Nation.
  Talmage Burke was born in November 1917 and graduated from Alhambra 
High School in 1935. He went on to USC, graduating with a Bachelor of 
Arts degree. He continued his studies at USC Law School, graduating 
with Juris Doctor and Masters of Laws degrees. Prior to being elected 
to the Alhambra City Council in 1952, he served as the city's first 
prosecutor and deputy city attorney.
  The Burke family has served the City of Alhambra for over 70 of its 
nearly 100 years. Talmage Burke, a life-long resident of Alhambra, 
lives with his wife, of 45 years Lisa, in the same house that his 
father, Montivel A. Burke, built in 1927.
  One of the most outstanding and well-known civic accomplishments of 
Talmage Burke was his involvement in the lowering of the railroad 
tracks in Alhambra during the mid-1970s. Along with the improved system 
of tracks, the nearby Alhambra Municipal Golf Course gained an addition 
of nine holes from the excavated soil from the lowered tracks.
  As a member of the Rotary Club, he has a record of perfect attendance 
for the past 52 years! He has served as President of the San Gabriel 
Valley Bar Association and is the Founding Director of the Legal Aid 
and Public Defender Program of the San Gabriel Valley. He was also a 
Trustee of the University of Redlands for 18 years.
  Talmage Burke and his wife have two children: a son, Montivel A. 
Burke II, an attorney, and a daughter, Karen M. Brown, R.N. The Burkes 
also have six grandchildren.
  It is with great pleasure that I ask all Members to join me in 
congratulating the Honorable Talmage V. Burke for his truly remarkable 
and lifelong dedication to the City of Alhambra.

                          ____________________