Former UK employee of 40 years dies

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By Gary Hermann

Joseph T. Burch, a UK employee for more than 40 years, died April 4, leaving behind a legacy of service to the university.

“He was one of the most insightful, thoughtful, kind and caring individuals I have ever known,” Student Services Director John Herbst said. “He was a person we all wanted to work alongside.”

Mr. Burch enrolled at UK in 1959. He received his Bachelor of Arts in economics in 1962 and his law degree in 1966, according to his family’s statement. In 1959, he began a job as a UK residence hall adviser. He later was appointed dean of men while enrolled at the UK Law School. He helped write the first UK Student Code.

According to a UK press release, Mr. Burch was dean of students, deputy general counsel, assistant to the vice president for business affairs, acting director of athletics, acting vice chancellor, acting director of the Tobacco and Health Research Institute and vice president for university relations, which put him in charge of development, alumni affairs, public relations, police and parking.

“He was the utility batter for the university,” Herbst said. “When a significant issue came up or there was a vision they needed a skilled person to craft, they went to Joe Burch.”

Mr. Burch took over as athletics director for a short time in the late 1980s, with the daunting task of inheriting a UK men’s basketball team under NCAA investigation.

“He had a toughness about him,” law professor Robert Lawson said. “That’s probably the reason he was selected to deal with these problem areas, but at the same time he was a very fair person.”

Andrew Oppmann, a former editor-in-chief of the Kernel, said Mr. Burch was vital to the Kernel, especially during its particularly fragile years following independence in 1971, when it hovered near bankruptcy in the mid-1980s.

“His value to the community and the university was amazing,” Oppmann said in an email to the Kernel. “I’ll always know and think of him as my dean of students, but he devoted his entire life to UK.”

Mr. Burch was instrumental in the fundraising effort to build the William T. Young Library and in the transformation of UK Public Relations to a marketing and image building organization, Herbst said.

“Knowing Joe, the thing he’d be most proud of is the student lives he was able to touch,” Herbst said.

Mr. Burch retired from the university in 2001.

“He left an absolutely incredible legacy,” Herbst said. “He was one of those rare administrators who developed relationships with the students, faculty and staff. After students graduated they stayed in touch with Joe. Twenty years after graduating, they still called him ‘Dean Burch.’”

The Joseph T. Burch Society, a fundraising initiative, and the Joseph T. Burch Young Alumni Award have been named in his honor.

“He loved the University of Kentucky better than anything,” Lawson said. “He spent his whole life here. He felt indebted to it, he was a big part of it and he went to his grave feeling that way about the University of Kentucky.”

Mr. Burch is survived by his wife, Sue; his son, Darren; brothers, Ron (Janice) Burch and Fred (Sandy) Burch; sisters, Lois (Jim) Huff and Linda Loschiavo; sisters-in-law, Barbara Petersen, Lynn (Phil) Robertson and their families; and many nieces and nephews.

According to his family’s obituary, a private service will be held at a later date. Mr. Burch will be buried at Highland Cemetery in northern Kentucky.