The man who led the Kansas Union at Kansas University for more than 30 years worked tirelessly for the students and staff, friends recall. Often he was the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave at night, sometimes as late as midnight.

And even though the hours were long and more prestigious job offers had been thrown his way, Frank R. Burge was never without his crimson and blue tie.

Burge, for whom Kansas University’s Burge Union is named, died Saturday at his home in Lawrence. He was 82.

Colleagues and friends say he was a selfless man who never took credit for the success of the union.

“This isn’t a one-man operation,” Burge told the Journal-World in 1980. “It’s a team of competent, informed and courteous staff.”

He served as the “unofficial host” of the university, greeting students and faculty at almost every event. A staff member said Burge did everything he could to make sure people were comfortable.

“He was so friendly, it was nothing for him to just come in with a cup of coffee and set it on your desk,” said Margaret Angino, who worked for two years in the union office while her husband attended KU in the 1960s.

Burge held the post as Kansas Union director from 1952 until he retired in 1983.

During his tenure, Burge oversaw four major additions, which doubled the union’s size. He also orchestrated the reconstruction of the union after an arson fire gutted it in 1970.

“He reopened the union as soon as he could, as best he could,” said Dick Wintermote, who was director of the KU Alumni Association in those years.

Even as the fire burned, Burge paid tribute to the students who helped rescue important items from the building.

He forged special bonds with students, becoming an honorary member of the classes of 1972, 1977, 1979 and 1980.

Just before Burge’s retirement, Chancellor Gene Budig requested that the satellite union, opened in 1979, be named for Burge.

His dedication was recognized in other ways, too. He was KU’s first employee of the year, receiving the honor in 1975. He also was awarded the Fred Ellsworth Medallion in 1982, the KU Alumni Association’s highest award for unique and significant service to the university.

“He was very thorough, he wanted to be fair, he wanted to give good service,” said Keith Nitcher, who was KU’s first comptroller and retired 11 years ago as the director for business and fiscal affairs. “He enjoyed great respect, I think, clear across the campus.”

Before coming to Lawrence, Burge was assistant director of Iowa University’s student union from 1946 to 1952. He had earned a business degree there in 1942 and afterward enlisted in the Army.

He became Maj. Burge and saw combat in France, Belgium and southwest of Berlin on V-E Day at the end of World War II. He eventually became a colonel for the U.S. Army Reserve and earned the Army’s Legion of Merit medal in 1970.

Burge married Gladys Frederick after the war. She survives, of the home. Funeral arrangements are pending.