Leah Burke Obituary

Funeral services for Leah Dawn (Anderson) Burke, 52, of Portales will be held at 10:00 A.M., Friday, July 15, 2022, at Southside Church of Christ with James Love officiating, assisted by David Van Wettering. Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Christopher Anderson, Clay Anderson, Timon Anderson, Darwin Culpepper, Rick Daniell, and George Pavalok serving as pallbearers.  The family will receive friends from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M., on Thursday at Wheeler Mortuary.
Leah (Anderson) Burke was born on April 20, 1970, in Leghorn, Italy, to the home of Tommye Lela (Whitehead) and Charles Ray Anderson, and died on July 9, 2022, in Amarillo.  Leah was virtually (off and on) a lifetime Portalesano.  At two years of age, she came with her parents as they entered ministry with the New Mexico Christian Children's home. She soon was in the hearts of all at the Home and was loved by the residents.  She amazed them with her ability to know about each of them individually, and her ability to call each by name! There were about 70 residents at the time!  It is believed this contributed to her desire to be of service to people.
Leah graduated from Portales High School in 1988.  She later received her Bachelor's Degree from Eastern New Mexico University.  Leah married Stephen Burke on November 2, 1991, in Portales.  She worked at Love's and Allsup's for a short time then she worked as a Sales Associate for Walmart for over ten years.  She had many favorite customers during that time at Walmart.  She was very active on different social media sites and she enjoyed helping people.
She is survived by her husband, Stephen Burke of the home; her brothers, Christopher Anderson & husband Alfred Pang of Seattle, WA, Clay Anderson & wife Korey of Westminster, CO and Timon Anderson & wife Bethany of Chicago, IL; her sister, Janice Beimer & husband Kevin of Pearce, AZ; her parents, Charles & Tommye Anderson of Portales, and several nieces and nephews.

Arrangements are under the direction of Wheeler Mortuary of Portales. 575-356-4455, wheelermortuary.net