Carolyn Spicer Burke passed peacefully at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center surrounded by her family on December 2, 2015.
"Spice" as she was known by her friends, was born on April 10, 1927 in Santa Ana, California to Walter S. Spicer and Faye Gooch. She grew up in Santa Ana where she graduated from high school in 1945. She attended Scripps College in Claremont, California for two years and then transferred to Stanford University. She graduated from Stanford in 1949 with a Bachelor's degree in English. While attending Stanford, she met her future husband, Carl P. Burke. Spice and Carl were married in Newport Beach, California on July 3, 1949. They lived in Palo Alto, California for two years while Carl finished law school and then moved to Boise, Idaho in 1950. They had three children: Christopher (1950), Caren (1952) and Cameron (1953).
Spice was very active in Junior League and PEO. She brailed textbooks for sight-impaired school children for more than 25 years. She started her own needlepoint business, called "Stitch Craft Studios" in the 1970's.
Golf was Spice's passion. She loved playing golf with her family and friends at Hillcrest Country Club where she was a member for more than 50 years. She was very active in the Ladies' Association. Spice and her family were proud of her four holes-in-one.
Spice loved playing bridge. She played twice a week for many years. She enjoyed lunch and bridge with friends every Thursday at Hillcrest Country Club, and dinner and bridge with her bridge group every Saturday night. She was delighted whenever she won 20¢ during a competitive bridge game!
Spice counted amount her friends many of Idaho's political legends, including Senator Frank and Bethine Church and Governor Cecil and Carol Andrus. She supported her husband, Carl, through many of Senator Church's political campaigns. She was famous for remembering everyone's name, particularly during political gatherings. She hosted many social events and entertained many celebrity guests, including Robert and Teddy Kennedy, at her home in Boise, Idaho.
Life has blessed Spice with many friends and family members. She is survived by her brother Walter Spicer of Napa, California; her sons Christopher and Cameron of Boise, Idaho; her daughter Caren Burke of Edmonds, Washington; her daughters-in-law Debra Alsaker-Burke and Barbara Robertson Burke of Boise, Idaho; her seven wonderful grandchildren, of whom she was so proud, Megan Burke, Lauren Burke, Nathan Burke (wife Alana Meyer), Kaitlin Burke, Zachary Burke (wife Katrina Pirnack), Sean Kiser and Christen Girard (husband Kai Girard), and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her former husband Carl Burke of Boise, Idaho and her sister, Harriet Allan, from Monterey, California.
A Celebration of Life is scheduled for family and friends on January 23, 2016 at Hillcrest Country Club in Boise, Idaho at 5:00 p.m.
The family encourages memorial contributions to the Frank and Bethine Church Chair, Boise State University, 1910 University Dr., Boise, Idaho 83725-1986, or to any charity of choice .
To share memories with the family, please visit Spice's memorial page at www.CloverdaleFuneralHome.com.