Obituary for Heather Duncan Burke
Heather Duncan Seay Burke
Heather Duncan was born June 18th, 1931, in Port Washington, New York. She was the second of 4 children, born to mother Doris Dunning and Father Walter Duncan.
Heather attended Oakwood Friends School, in Poughkeepsie, NY, for one year, in 1945. She transferred to Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park, NY, where she graduated with a College Entrance Diploma in 1949.
Heather studied Nursing for one year, at St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing, New York City. She transferred to the Cornell Agriculture College, at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, when advised that she could not enter the Veterinary School as they did not accept women. She completed her BS at Cornell University with a major in Biology and minor in Secondary Education.
Heather married Edmond Eggleston Seay, Jr, in October of 1955, divorced in 1964.Their children Catherine Seay and Edmond Eggleston Seay, III, were born in 1956 and 1958, respectively. She worked as a Nursing Assistant at Marlboro Hospital from 1956 to 1961.
In 1964, Heather obtained her MA degree in Biochemistry at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. Her Masters' thesis was published in Cancer Research, 1965. (Copy available upon request)
From 1961 to 1964, she was employed as a Research Assistant while pursuing her graduate degree. Later in 1964 she taught Science to grades 7 and 8 at EO Smith High School, the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. She returned to Research from 1965 to 1966, while initiating her PhD candidacy.
In 1966, unable to support her family as a single parent while in graduate school, Heather went to work for the University of Connecticut, Center for Real Estate & Urban Economic Studies. There she was instrumental in creating one of the first Word Processing Centers, until moving to San Francisco, California, in 1969.
Heather took the clerical and office business technology skills learned at UCONN, and parlayed them into a new career, as one of the pioneers in Word Processing. In San Francisco she worked and educated her coworkers in the various business machines as each came available to her, first in several legal practices. She spent a year with Wang Laboratories as a Marketing Support Representative, before joining the US Department of Housing & Urban Development, in 1975. There Heather was responsible for developing and maintaining the Regional Office Center, while also providing support to four other Centers in the region.
By 1978, Heather was hired by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, where she supported the Word Processing needs as well as helped integrate their Apple Macintosh environments. She retired from LLNL in 1993. She and her second husband, Leslie Francis Burke, moved to Bozeman, Montana, and enjoyed her hobbies of gardening, returning to riding Dressage on her various horses. When the cold climate became overwhelming, they moved to Coupeville, Whidbey Island, and enjoyed time with their son Patrick Burke, daughter in law Carol Stuckey, and granddaughter Sarah Burke.
Les and Heather moved to Anacortes in 2001, where Heather became involved in the Board for the Fidalgo Pool, was instrumental in creating the Anacortes Food Cooperative, and joined the Transition Fidalgo group that still focuses on the advancement of sustainability for the Fidalgo Island community. Heather believed in the individual's right to choose time and place of death, and was instrumental in founding the Death Cafe in Anacortes, along with her dear friend Richard Wagner.
At age 90, Heather moved into her daughter and son in law's home in October 2021 when she no longer felt safe living alone. After a series of small strokes, she was placed on hospice in December 2022, with the Hospice of the Northwest, of Skagit Valley Hospital. Heather died peacefully at home on May 4, 2023.
She was preceded in death by husband Leslie Burke on June 2nd, 2021, brother Ian Duncan of Trumansburg, NY, and sister Ann Duncan Pells of Cape Cod, MA. She is survived by her youngest brother Jeffrey Duncan, of Trumensberg, NY.
Also surviving are children, Cathy & Dirk "Jon" Vink of Mount Vernon, WA; Ted Seay & wife Patricia Ellison-Smith of Tasmania, Australia; grandchildren, Charles 'Chad' Collucci of Ontario, CA, Carla Collucci of Little Falls, NY; and great-grandchild Aidan Michael Buhaj, also of Little Falls, NY.
Per Heather's wishes, there will be no formal funeral or graveside service. A Celebration of Life will take place in June, a date yet to be decided.
Contributions in her name may be made to the Hospice of the Northwest, in Mount Vernon, or NOAH, Stanwood.
Heather Duncan was born June 18th, 1931, in Port Washington, New York. She was the second of 4 children, born to mother Doris Dunning and Father Walter Duncan.
Heather attended Oakwood Friends School, in Poughkeepsie, NY, for one year, in 1945. She transferred to Franklin Delano Roosevelt High School in Hyde Park, NY, where she graduated with a College Entrance Diploma in 1949.
Heather studied Nursing for one year, at St. Luke's Hospital School of Nursing, New York City. She transferred to the Cornell Agriculture College, at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, when advised that she could not enter the Veterinary School as they did not accept women. She completed her BS at Cornell University with a major in Biology and minor in Secondary Education.
Heather married Edmond Eggleston Seay, Jr, in October of 1955, divorced in 1964.Their children Catherine Seay and Edmond Eggleston Seay, III, were born in 1956 and 1958, respectively. She worked as a Nursing Assistant at Marlboro Hospital from 1956 to 1961.
In 1964, Heather obtained her MA degree in Biochemistry at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts. Her Masters' thesis was published in Cancer Research, 1965. (Copy available upon request)
From 1961 to 1964, she was employed as a Research Assistant while pursuing her graduate degree. Later in 1964 she taught Science to grades 7 and 8 at EO Smith High School, the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Conn. She returned to Research from 1965 to 1966, while initiating her PhD candidacy.
In 1966, unable to support her family as a single parent while in graduate school, Heather went to work for the University of Connecticut, Center for Real Estate & Urban Economic Studies. There she was instrumental in creating one of the first Word Processing Centers, until moving to San Francisco, California, in 1969.
Heather took the clerical and office business technology skills learned at UCONN, and parlayed them into a new career, as one of the pioneers in Word Processing. In San Francisco she worked and educated her coworkers in the various business machines as each came available to her, first in several legal practices. She spent a year with Wang Laboratories as a Marketing Support Representative, before joining the US Department of Housing & Urban Development, in 1975. There Heather was responsible for developing and maintaining the Regional Office Center, while also providing support to four other Centers in the region.
By 1978, Heather was hired by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, where she supported the Word Processing needs as well as helped integrate their Apple Macintosh environments. She retired from LLNL in 1993. She and her second husband, Leslie Francis Burke, moved to Bozeman, Montana, and enjoyed her hobbies of gardening, returning to riding Dressage on her various horses. When the cold climate became overwhelming, they moved to Coupeville, Whidbey Island, and enjoyed time with their son Patrick Burke, daughter in law Carol Stuckey, and granddaughter Sarah Burke.
Les and Heather moved to Anacortes in 2001, where Heather became involved in the Board for the Fidalgo Pool, was instrumental in creating the Anacortes Food Cooperative, and joined the Transition Fidalgo group that still focuses on the advancement of sustainability for the Fidalgo Island community. Heather believed in the individual's right to choose time and place of death, and was instrumental in founding the Death Cafe in Anacortes, along with her dear friend Richard Wagner.
At age 90, Heather moved into her daughter and son in law's home in October 2021 when she no longer felt safe living alone. After a series of small strokes, she was placed on hospice in December 2022, with the Hospice of the Northwest, of Skagit Valley Hospital. Heather died peacefully at home on May 4, 2023.
She was preceded in death by husband Leslie Burke on June 2nd, 2021, brother Ian Duncan of Trumansburg, NY, and sister Ann Duncan Pells of Cape Cod, MA. She is survived by her youngest brother Jeffrey Duncan, of Trumensberg, NY.
Also surviving are children, Cathy & Dirk "Jon" Vink of Mount Vernon, WA; Ted Seay & wife Patricia Ellison-Smith of Tasmania, Australia; grandchildren, Charles 'Chad' Collucci of Ontario, CA, Carla Collucci of Little Falls, NY; and great-grandchild Aidan Michael Buhaj, also of Little Falls, NY.
Per Heather's wishes, there will be no formal funeral or graveside service. A Celebration of Life will take place in June, a date yet to be decided.
Contributions in her name may be made to the Hospice of the Northwest, in Mount Vernon, or NOAH, Stanwood.