Paul E. "Bud" Burke Jr (January 4, 1934–August 17, 2017) was a politician from Kansas who spent over twenty years in the Kansas state legislature, predominantly in the Kansas State Senate.

Bud Burke
President of the Kansas Senate
In office
1989[1] – January 12, 1997
Preceded byRobert Talkington
Succeeded byDick Bond
Member of the Kansas State Senate from the 9th District
In office
1975–1996
Preceded byRobert Frederick Bennett
Succeeded byRichard M. Becker
Member of the Kansas House of Representatives from the 28th District
In office
1973–1974
Personal details
Born(1934-01-04)January 4, 1934[2]
Kansas City, Missouri
Died(2017-08-17)August 17, 2017
Lawrence, Kansas
Political partyRepublican
SpousePatricia Ann Pierson
Children4
ResidenceLeawood, Kansas
Alma materUniversity of Kansas

Burke was born in Kansas City, Missouri and attended Shawnee Mission High School in 1952. He received a bachelor of science from the University of Kansas in 1956.[3] He served in the U.S. Air Force from 1956 to 1959 as a fighter pilot, and then in the U.S. Naval Reserves from 1963 to 1988 as a carrier-trained aviator, achieving the rank of captain.[1][4] He married Patricia Ann Pierson in 1955, and was elected to the Kansas House of Representatives in 1972, taking office in 1973.[2]

After one term in the House, Burke was appointed in 1975 to fill the Senate seat of Robert Frederick Bennett, who had been elected Governor. Burke successfully ran for re-election in his own right in 1976, and spent the next two decades in the Senate. He served as chair of the Senate Tax Committee, was majority leader of the Senate from 1985 to 1989, and was president of the Senate from 1989 until his retirement from the legislature; he declined to run for reelection in 1996.[1]

After his legislative retirement, Burke moved to Lawrence, Kansas, where he died in 2017.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "'Bud' Burke was master legislator". salina.com. Salina Journal. August 28, 2017. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  2. ^ a b "Kansas Legislators, Past and Present - Burke, Bud". kslib.info. State Library of Kansas. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  3. ^ "Paul "Bud" Burke". legacy.com. Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
  4. ^ Bud Burke. "Here's my background", The Olathe Daily News, Olathe, Kansas, volume 29, number 161, October 8, 1988, page 4A. (subscription required)