Robert G. Burdick

07/18/2001

Robert George Burdick, 73, of 224 Shadowland Cove died yesterday at home. He was a longtime North Adams teacher and businessman. Born in North Adams on March 24, 1928, son of Lawrence E. and Helen M. Reynolds Burdick, he graduated from Drury High School. He also attended Fitchburg and Westfield state colleges, where he earned his professional improvement certificate. A Navy veteran of World War II, he served as an electrician's mate third class. He was stationed at Summit Radio Station in Panama, where he installed modern CCL equipment for receiving and transmitting signals for ships at sea. He also maintained all electrical components at the base. He was an instructor in the electrical trades department of C.H. McCann Technical Vocational High School in North Adams from 1978 until 1993, when he retired. Earlier, he worked for the Phair Electrical Co. and as a foreman at the former Raycon Electric Co., both in Pittsfield, the former Arnold Print Works in Adams and Tower Lighting. He was also owner of the former Northeast Realty Co. in North Adams until the late 1990s, when he joined RCI Real Estate of North Adams. While in Clarksburg, where he resided from 1979 until 1993, he served as a member and chairman of the Board of Selectmen. He moved to Cheshire in 1993. Mr. Burdick was a member of First United Methodist Church of North Adams, where he was an usher and a member of its membership committee. He was a member and three-term president of the Cheshire Kiwanis Club; a member and past president of the Berkshire County Board of Realtors, and a member of the Massachusetts Teachers Association and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. In his earlier years, he played semipro football with the former Adams Saints. He enjoyed football and golfing. His first wife, the former Audrey A. Oslizlo, died Aug. 4, 1992. He leaves his wife, the former Marilyn A. Harrington Tower, whom he married Nov. 20, 1993; a son, Robert G. Burdick Jr. of North Adams; two daughters, Deborah King of Bedford, N.H., and Susan Pratt of Windham, N.H.; two stepsons, Bruce Tower of North Adams and Brian Tower of St. Louis; two stepdaughters, Sharon Chalmers of Cheshire and Cynthia Loewen of Marblehead; five brothers, Larry Burdick and Paul Burdick, both of Williamstown, William Burdick of Adams, Gerald Burdick of Daytona, Fla., and Jack Burdick of San Antonio, Texas; three sisters, Gertrude Volpe and Carol Severin, both of Adams, and Betty Beckwith of South Burlington, Vt.; seven grandchildren, nine step-grandchildren, and a great-granddaughter. Services will be Saturday at 10 in First United Methodist Church, North Adams. The Rev. Melissa Pisco, associate pastor of the South United Methodist Church in Manchester, Conn., will officiate. Burial will follow in Clarksburg Cemetery. Calling hours at AUGE-SAN SOUCIE-SIMMONS FUNERAL HOME, 46 North Church St., North Adams, are Friday from 4 to 8. Memorial donations may be made to First United Methodist Church of North Adams; HospiceCare in the Berkshires Inc. of Pittsfield, or to the charity of the donor's choice through the funeral home. He was predeceased by a brother, Lawrence Burdick, who died in infancy.

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