July 27 marked the end of an era for a Catasauqua business. Tommy Burke Provisions, 501 Peach St., closed its doors after 68 years of business.

Tommy Burke Jr. sat with fellow staff Blaise DiMiceli, David “Wirehead” Smith, Doug Moll and Barb Rivello and spent the final day of business talking about their time together. These five, of the 10 employees, have a collective 151 years of working at Tommy Burke Provisions.

Smith boasted he never took a day off in his self-proclaimed 36 years, two weeks and one day from the job he loved. He said he called in early the morning of July 27 to report off as a prank. No one believed him, and, of course, he showed up to work as usual.

Tommy Burke Sr. founded the company in 1956, working out of a garage at 318 Mulberry St., Catasauqua. The business specializes in providing quality food products to the community.

When his son took over the business, his father told him to “surround yourself with good people for success.” Burke Sr. died in 1979 at age 65.

Burke Jr. went into a partnership with DiMiceli, which lasted 46 years until the business closed.

“Businesses are hard to stay together,” Burke Jr. said. “It takes trust.”

The trust and camaraderie between all the employees was palpable. One can see they genuinely care for each other.

Tommy Burke Provisions was a quintessential American business success story and a model of how to build a business from the ground up and have a business that endures.

“The business was built like a family, and we treated our customers like family,” Burke Jr. said. “We went to their weddings and, unfortunately, to some of their funerals.”

Burke Jr. said the business was sold to Schiff’s Food Service Inc. in Taylor.

Burke Jr. and DiMiceli noted they are both in their mid-70s, which helped them make the decision to close.

“It was time, and the time is here,” DiMiceli said.

“This is bittersweet. My emotions are all over the place,” Burke Jr. said. “My dad would be proud. I often think he probably never thought he would start a business that would provide his son a business for life.”

Burke Jr. and the former team are taking important memories and relationships with them as they all begin their new life journeys.