Longtime Pa. Detective Lays Down Her Shield

Feb. 20--In 1982, single mom Kathy Burke worked in the York Township-area district magistrate office, earning about $7,500 a year. That's when she heard the York Township Police Department was hiring new officers.

"Actually, it was kind of a dare for me to even try," Burke recalled.

Mostly she was daring herself, although one officer made his thoughts about women cops very clear: "We don't want your kind."

But Burke was undaunted. It's a character trait her chief and fellow officers say served her well for decades, helping her solve crime after crime, including cold cases and homicides.

In January 1983 she became a York Township police officer, and her salary doubled.

"It was like winning the lottery," she said. "It provided my children with the essentials. Without that opportunity, I don't know what direction my life would have taken."

How it started: At that point, the rookie patrol officer didn't fully understand what the job would entail, how much it would come to mean to her, or the impact her work would have on crime victims and their families.

"I think I went in with the TV perception of police work," Burke said.

But by the time she was promoted to detective in 1993, she knew exactly what she wanted: To wear the white shirt (cop-speak for being a detective) and do all she could to get justice for victims.

Twenty-nine years after becoming a cop, York Area Regional Police Detective Kathleen Burke, 59, retired from the force on Thursday, 10 days after solving the highest-profile cold case of her career.

On Feb. 6, she filed homicide charges against John E. Ruth III, 56, of Red Lion, alleging he fatally shot Stacey Farmer on June 27, 2002.

'Meant everything'

Farmer's mother, Lois Kravontka, said she's grateful to Burke "from the bottom of my heart."

"Kathy Burke has meant everything to me. Ever since my son was killed, she told me she would never stop working on the case," Kravontka said. "She promised me from the beginning that I would one day have closure."

York Area Regional Police Chief Tom Gross said it's simply Burke's nature to keep chipping away at a mystery, which earned her the respect of police around York County as well as numerous commendations.

"She's persistent. She stays with a case," he said. "Somebody told me if she has you as a suspect, she's gonna get you. She always kept doing that one more thing."

Dogged: That doggedness led to convictions in numerous cases, including the 2002 Hopethan Johnson murder; the 2008 murder of Tracey Green; and 2003's violent home-invasion robbery of a couple in their 80s, during which three robbers savagely beat the husband.

Earlier this year, she filed homicide charges against Shelby Lyn Adams of York City, accused of poisoning her 90-year-old grandmother in 2008.

"She's conscientious, and she's a good listener as well as a good interviewer," Gross said. "And she really cared about the victims."

'One of the best'

York Area Detective Donald Hopple Jr. said Burke is very intelligent and a wealth of knowledge.

"The longer somebody is a criminal investigator, the better they become at it," Hopple said. "She was an excellent investigator -- one of the best."

"I'm proud of the work I did," Burke said, and loved the challenge of solving crimes. "But I'm no more special than the (officer) taking an accident report."

She said even now she remains grateful for the career opportunities she was given.

No glass ceiling: Despite the "we don't want your kind" remark made all those years ago, Burke said she never had to deal with bias on the job.

Her training officers and supervisors pushed her as hard as they pushed her male counterparts, but supported her equally, too.

"They wanted me to succeed," she said, and helped her become a better cop. "That laid the foundation for the rest of my career."

What's next: Burke plans to spend her retirement taking classes, becoming an avid bicyclist and sleeping late when the mood strikes.

She's also excited about spending more time with her two daughters and seven grandchildren. The proud grandma said her eighth grandchild is on the way.

-- Reach Elizabeth Evans at [email protected], 505-5429 or twitter.com/ydcrimetime.