Dean Burkhead

A Mass of Christian Burial for Dean Burkhead, 80, Lawrence, KS, will be held at 10 a.m. Monday, November 21, 2011 at Corpus Christi Catholic Church in Lawrence.  Burial will follow at Mt. Calvary Cemetery in Lawrence. Dean passed away on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at his home.

Dean was born on April 27, 1931 in Quinter, KS, the son of Clyde and Hattie McQueen Burkhead.  He grew up in Monument, KS and graduated from Monument High School in 1949.

Dean came to Lawrence in 1949 to attend the University of Kansas and later, the University of Kansas Law School.  After his law school graduation in 1955, he worked in the governor’s office.  Thereafter, he worked in the legal department of the Kansas Department of Revenue.  In 1967, he was appointed as an Assistant Attorney General to Robert C. Londerholm.  In 1968, Dean joined the Lawrence law firm of Riling and Riling (now Riling, Burkhead, and Nitcher) as an attorney and partner.  Dean continued to help Lawrence residents with their legal needs until he retired in 1994 due to a stroke.

An active civic participant in Lawrence affairs, Dean was a member of the Corpus Christi Catholic Church, the Knights of Columbus, the Kansas and Douglas County Bar Associations, the American Trial Lawyers Association, the KU Alumni Association, the National Rifle Association, the Kiwanis Club and the Optimist Club.  He was also a life member of the Kansas Historical Society.

He married Rosalie Weigel on January 29, 1953 in Oakley, KS. She survives of the home.

Other survivors include six children – Deanna Lowe (Marc), of Topeka, KS, Patsy Huffman (Steve), of Lawrence, KS, Kim Lewis (Joe), of Lawrence, KS, Pam Burkhead, of Lawrence, KS, Terri Cooper, (Scott), of Garnett, KS, and Tom Burkhead, (Leah), of Leawood, KS; a brother, Donnie Burkhead, of California; a sister, Carole Jo Ralston, of West Virginia; thirteen grandchildren – Lindsey Kaminski, Brooke Lowe, Mallory Lowe, Kayla Altman, Kasey Gryszowka, Megan Lewis, Tyler Lewis, Kelsey Cooper, Cameron Cooper, Katelin Cooper, Carston Cooper, Charlie Burkhead, and Jack Burkhead; and three great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers – Richard Burkhead and Delmar Burkhead.

The family will greet friends from 4-7 p.m. Sunday, November 20, 2011 at Warren-McElwain Mortuary with a Parish Rosary being recited at 5 p.m. 

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorials be sent in Dean’s name to St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center, Southern Care Hospice of Lawrence, or Saint Luke’s Brain and Stroke Institute.