RIP Mike Burkhart

John Forkner

John Forkner

I received news from my Packard Club that Mike Burkhart of Dodge City, Kansas died on October 21, 2016. I only met him once while attending a Packard Meet that he and his wife hosted in Dodge City.

Here's a link to his obituary. I can't believe the number of organizations and activities he was involved in.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dodgeglobe/obituary.aspx?pid=182074639


He had a beautiful 1941 Packard Henney funeral coach that he found in Nebraska in the 1970's. He said that he was buying the fenders off the car for another restoration he was working on. He paid the guy $100.00 or so and the guy told him to take the whole car.
 

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Rest easy Mike, I enjoyed reading your posts. Sorry we never had the chance to meet. After reading the obituary, it sure looks like you had a lot of fun.
 
Mike was a great guy and he had some great cars over the years! A few come to mind including 62 Superior Cadillac Crown 3-way and a 69 M-M Cadillac Citation landau hearse. The last time I saw Mike in person was on New Years Day 2012. He rode the train all night meeting me and two of my friends in Chicago to pick-up a 1995 Eureka Buillac hearse he had bought. Couldn't ask for a nicer guy or friend. I'm going to miss his evening phone calls, a true car guy with many stories to tell!
 
Although I don't think I ever met Mike, I did know him from the forum here. He seemed to be a nice man and his Henney was always in his avatar. Rest In Peace Mike!
 
I, like many others in the PCS, was shocked to hear of Mike's passing and extend my sincere sympathies to his family and friends. Rest in peace, Mike.
 
This is a loss to the PCS family, and my sympathies go out to Mike's friends and relatives. My only interaction with Mike was at the 2014 PCS International Meet in Minnesota, where I had a very informative conversation with him about Henney Packard restoration. A couple weeks after the meet, I received a free-of-charge package in the mail from him of some Henney trim parts I needed for my 1942 ambulance project! I'll forever be grateful for that generosity, and I'm saddened that he won't get to see his items in use.
 
I only met him briefly, I'm sorry to say. Sad to hear.

His '41 Henney Packard is stunning to be sure.
 

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It's not often I'm deeply saddened by the lost of someone I never met, but Mike would be one of those exceptions. Over the years we've chatted through email and messages, but I never had the fortune of meeting him in person. As far as I'm concerned, his Packard is the most beautiful hearse in our club. That's actually how I "met" him. Years ago, I had messaged him asking for some photos of it to use as my work computer's background photo. He graciously obliged, and over time, we chatted occasionally, talking about various hobbies, this Packard a lot, as well as his interest in collecting funeral home thermometers. For fun I would help him find some for his collection, and he would joke that I keep finding ways for him to spend all his money. I was actually thinking about him this morning as one came up, which I had planned to tell him about. So sad to hear this news...
 
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