 His mother died from the Spanish flu pandemic in 1919 when Carl was age 6, and in later life he would ensure that the Kirkwood name would be memorialized in both a street name in Charlottetown as well in a modern motor lodge he opened.Carl Frederick Burke started flying lessons at Saint John, New Brunswick in 1936, subsequently earning a commercial license and, in 1939, qualifying for an air engineer's certificate.In 1939, he became a pilot for Canadian Airways Limited (CAL) at Moncton, New Brunswick, during which he was involved in the air rescue of a pilot in Musgrove Harbor, Newfoundland, flying a ski-equipped de Havilland Dragon Rapide, and also recovered the bodies of Sir Frederick Banting, navigator William Bird and William Snailman.