Pearl Burke, nee’ Pai, 92, of Missoula passed away Saturday, June 13, 2026, at her home with family by her side. A visitation will be held from 11:00 a.m. to noon, Thursday, June 18, 2026, at Garden City Funeral Home. A graveside service will follow at roughly 12:15 pm in the Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Missoula and will be live-streamed for remote viewing.

In lieu of flowers and to honor Pearl’s love of books and the role they play in the lives of young people, the family suggests donations to First Book, which purchases new books for children in need.

Pearl Burke, formerly Pai Chu, daughter of Walter and Margaret (Chang) Pai, was born August 16, 1933, in Peking, China, and moved to Taiwan with her family after the communist party gained control over the mainland in the Chinese Civil War. She later graduated from National Taiwan University. Pearl moved to the United States to earn her Master’s Degree in Library Science at the University of Missouri, where, aptly, she met and fell in love with a young writer and fellow graduate student, James Lee Burke Jr., at the campus library where she worked. Because interracial marriage was unlawful in Missouri, they eloped to Iowa and were wed on January 20, 1960. They remained married for more than sixty-six years through her passing.

Pearl and Jim moved frequently in their early years together, living in California, Texas, Louisiana, Kentucky, Florida, Montana, and Kansas, among other places. Throughout it all, Pearl worked full-time as a school librarian while raising a growing family and championing her husband’s writing career. She taught her children to be tough but kind and showed them how to overcome hardship and loss while still caring for others.

A voracious reader and talented artist with a passion for water color painting, drawing, and poetry, she instilled a love for reading and the arts in both her own kids and the ones she inspired at work. When Pearl finally retired after more than three decades of dedicated service so she and Jim could return to Montana permanently, the school system had to hire two librarians and a media specialist to take her place.

Pearl also travelled globally and studied the history, art, and culture of each place she visited. There wasn’t anything she didn’t seem to know, and she saw each interaction with a new person as an opportunity to learn more about the world.

In addition to her many other accomplishments, Pearl was a loving wife, mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend. She will be greatly missed.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband, James Lee Burke, Jr.; children, James Lee Burke III, Andree (Joe) Walsh, Alafair (Sean) Burke; grandchildren, Parker (Oshi) McDavid, Emma Walsh, Jack Walsh, James Lee Burke IV; siblings Linda (Roger) Grainger, Dora Liu, Paul (Mui Lee) Pai, William (Marie) Pai; as well as nieces, nephews, extended family, and friends.

Pearl was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Pamala Burke McDavid; son, Oran Robert Perry Burke (in infancy); and brother-in-law, Li Hung.