A Saint John senior died in a bike crash. His friend feels his death was ignored
Robert Burke died Nov. 5 after his bike and a vehicle collided at a north end street corner
Robert Burke passed through life quietly, says his friend Caroline Burhoe.
The 85-year-old west Saint Johner lived alone in a modest mobile home. His only vehicle was a bike outfitted with an electric motor, which he'd ride around town suited up with a headlamp and reflective gear.
"He was very poor," said Burhoe, sitting in her late friend's living room, now mostly empty. "This is what he was used to."
Burke died on the afternoon of Nov. 5 after his bike collided with a vehicle at Metcalf and Adelaide streets in the city's north end — part of the official 4.5-kilometre bike route, called the Campus Harbour Connection, between the University of New Brunswick in Saint John and the uptown.
No news release was issued by Saint John police about the fatal accident, and there was no media coverage.
But Burhoe wants people to understand who her friend was: a hard worker, a lifelong athlete, a father of two — and most important, a good man and loyal friend.
"I just want justice for Bob," she said.
From personal loss, to close friendship
Burke's wife died after about 25 years of marriage, and he and his sons were estranged.
His friendship with Burhoe started with a mutual loss.
Burhoe and her husband, like Burke, had lost a large portion of their life savings to an unlicensed real estate, mortgage brokering and investment scam.
In 2016, she tracked down Burke's address and went to the house, looking for information that might help her case.
"I had a hard time getting him to open up the door," Burhoe said. "He didn't trust anybody."
Over the months that followed, their relationship evolved into a close friendship.
They'd meet regularly to visit, chat and walk together at the Irving Nature Park.
"If I had a cold or if I wasn't feeling good, he was always over," she said. "He was always calling."
In 2021, Burke asked Burhoe to act as his enduring power of attorney.
"He was just an honest, good person," she said.
'Until we meet again'
Just before Burke died, he biked over to Burhoe's home in the north end. He arrived at 3:40 p.m. wearing a high-viz vest and a headlamp, and hauling a bike trailer.
They talked about politics, and their plans for Christmas. Before Burke left, Burhoe dug out a pair of gloves and an old jacket to keep Burke warm, zipping his wallet carefully into the jacket pocket
His last words to Burhoe before he left the driveway were "until we meet again."
"That was the last time I seen him," she said.
A short time later, Saint John police called to say Burke and his bike had been involved in a crash at Metcalf and Adelaide, less than two kilometres away. Her name and number were on a card he kept in his wallet.
At the Saint John Regional Hospital, she learned Burke had received a significant blow to the head and wasn't expected to live.
Later that night, he was taken off life support.
Driver issued violation
Biking can be a dangerous way to travel in New Brunswick.
Six fatal crashes involving either pedestrians or cyclists were reported to the New Brunswick RCMP in 2022 — the most recent statistics available, according to media relations officer Cpl. Hans. Ouellette. That number doesn't include cyclist deaths in the nine municipalities, including Saint John, with municipal or regional police forces.
But serious crashes do happen.
Burke's death was the only fatal cyclist crash reported in Saint John this year. A cyclist died in Fredericton on September 2023 after colliding with a pickup truck. In July, a cyclist suffered spinal fracture in a car crash near Hampton. Two Saint John cyclists died car crashes in a single week in October 2022. In June 2023, a Saint John woman was sentenced to house arrest in a hit-and-run that killed a cyclist in 2021.
The public isn't always notified when a cyclist dies.
A news release is usually issued when police are seeking information that could assist in the investigation, said Sgt. Sean Rocca. Other municipal and regional police forces in New Brunswick follow a similar policy.
In Burke's case, the crash was caught on video surveillance, "which gave investigators a clear picture of what occurred," Rocca said.
While the incident remains under investigation, "based on the evidence collected to date, investigators do not believe that the incident was criminal in nature."
A 59-year-old driver was issued a violation under the Motor Vehicle Act in connection with Burke's death for failing to yield to a cyclist.
The New Brunswick RCMP, on the other hand, "follow a 'best-practice" of issuing a news release for fatal collisions to inform the public as soon as practicable, when the situation permits, and only following a next of kin notification," said Ouelette.
More public awareness
Martin Palkovic, president of nonprofit Saint John Cycling, believes telling the public about fatal collisions whenever possible makes cyclists and motorists more aware of the risks.
"People that bike regularly will usually tell you they don't feel safe biking around Saint John," he said.
Knowing that someone has recently died on a bicycle at a given location "would definitely help you to take a safety mindset, and be careful when you're travelling through those areas."
Not forgotten
Burhoe believes Burke's case would have been handled differently had he been a well-known person with more people asking questions about what happened to him.
"No question," she said. "It would have been reported."
Unlike other New Brunswick cyclists who have been killed in collisions, there was no public outpouring of grief for Robert Burke.
Fewer than a dozen people attended his funeral, Burhoe said
But if she has anything to do with it, her friend won't be forgotten.
"He's going to have a nice stone. I made sure of that."
He's was buried at Fernhill Cemetery, in a plot a short distance away from where Burhoe will someday be buried.
"He was totally ignored," she said. "But I lost a good friend."
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