Robert Taylor Burke, better known as Bobby, was born and raised in Habersham Mills and one of eight children born to Robert Sr. and Louise Holcomb Burke. Bobby attended Habersham Mills Elementary school and graduated from North Habersham High School in 1963 where he played football and was a member of the FFA. Bobby attended Piedmont College and transferred to the University of Georgia where he earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture.
As a boy, Bobby and his father were very close, and Bobby’s strong work ethic resonated from Robert Sr.’s example. Robert Masters, James Holcomb, RL Lovell, Burns Sims, Marion Stribling, AE Mize Jr., and Tom and Lee Arrendale were a few of the mentors that help create Bobby’s keen interest and love for the agricultural industry in the areas of timber harvesting, sawmilling, cultivating crops, cattle, and poultry.
Upon Bobby’s graduation from UGA, he began a career in the poultry industry as a field representative for Ralston Purina and the Arrendale family. In that role he worked with poultry growers in Habersham and Rabun counties.
Prior to the mid 1970’s, shavings and sawdust used in the poultry houses for bedding were hauled into the houses and “forked” off with a hand tooled called a seed fork. The seed fork was approximately 16” x 15” in size and was used to spread the shavings throughout the house. To say the least, it was a daunting and back-breaking task! In the mid-seventies a farmer had an idea to use a litter truck, slow the fan motor down, and drive the truck through the chicken house to spread shavings. The idea was successful, and, that practice gradually became the welcomed method for placing bedding in poultry houses.
Bobby Burke saw an opportunity to source shavings and sawdust from some of his sawmill mentors and provide poultry growers bedding that was mechanically spread in their houses. On April 1, 1978, Bobby started Burke Shavings with five spreader trucks and five employees. Bobby’s wife Joan recalls, “when we started the business, our youngest was three months old. There were many evenings that Bob loaded our oldest in a spreader truck with him, and I strapped the youngest in a baby carrier in my truck, and we hauled shavings into the evening hours.” Burke shavings provided poultry and other livestock bedding for farmers across Northeast Georgia. Bobby later bought grain trucks and hopper trailers from Hollis Arrendale and began to haul grain for Fieldale, Cargill, Southern States, and other feed mills throughout the region. For over twenty-five years, Bobby and his family provided poultry bedding and transport services for poultry and livestock farmers. He was innovative, community and people minded, and centered his business on customer service. Chip Brooks, Habersham County Farm Bureau (HCFB) President states, “Bobby Burke was one of the finest men I have ever known. Having grown up a couple of miles from the Burkes, I had the privilege of knowing Bobby and his family very well. He was always honest and trustworthy. I did a lot of business with him, and he could always be counted on to deal fairly with his customers and employees.”
The Burke family provided a vital service that helped grow Habersham and Northeast Georgia’s agricultural communities.
In addition to the Burke’s transportation business, the family also owned and operated a broiler poultry farm for twenty-three years, and Bobby answered the call to the ministry in 1977. He served several churches as a bi-vocational pastor throughout our area while operating a successful business and farm.
Bobby’s wife Joan states, “Bobby lived a grateful, loved, and happy life and was always willing to help anyone and expected nothing in return. Bobby’s first priority was God and then our family.”
Bobby and Joan married 1967 and celebrated 43 years of marriage prior to Bobby’s passing in 2011 after his battle with cancer. The couple had two sons, Taylor and Chris, who have followed in their father’s transport footsteps.
Habersham County is better today because of Bobby Burke. He contributed to our region as a farmer, agribusinessman, pastor, and family man.