In Remembrance: Richards H. Burhoe Jr. ’57 Died on January 1 2025

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Richards Holmes Burhoe Jr. (Dick) passed away peacefully on January 1, 2025, from complications related to Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP), with family by his side. Born on July 24, 1935, in Reading, Massachusetts, Dick was the first-born child of Eleanor Riford Barris Burhoe and Richards Holmes Burhoe.

Throughout his career as a teacher, administrator, and psychologist, Dick worked to level the playing field for all. With his quick wit and strong sense of fairness, he dedicated his life to serving others. One of his colleagues noted, “Dick had the keen ability to offer guidance in ways that made those who worked for him feel supported, confident, and important.” A framed collage of words from his colleagues speaks to his character: “DICK: gentle, kind, wise, solid manager, dedicated, supportive supervisor, team player, trustworthy, respected, calm, appreciates people's strengths, patient, sensitive, great family therapist, man on a bike, genuine, witty, compassionate, deeply connected to his clients, big heart, sense of humor, sincere, loyal, will be missed.” Dick enjoyed playing tennis and watching his children’s sporting events, taking pride in their successes. He was an avid reader, which fueled his love for wordplay, puns, and writing both serious and witty poetry.

Dick attended high school in Reading, Massachusetts, receiving seven varsity letters; his basketball team even scrimmaged with the Celtics. He attended Yale University, earning a bachelor’s in English (1957) and being awarded Pierson College’s Intramural Sports Club Cup.

In 1957, Dick met Patricia Kathleen Welton (Pat) in the Yale library. They married on June 14, 1958, and had four children: Leslie, Laurie, Thomas, and Elizabeth. Dick and Pat moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for Dick to attend Harvard’s School of Education (MEd ’59). He then moved his family to Ojai, California, to work at the Thacher School as an English teacher, later becoming the head of the department, and as a basketball coach (1960–1967). There he also created a program that brought inner-city kids from Los Angeles to experience the rural setting of Thacher.

In 1967, the family moved back east, and Dick became the principal of the lower school at Kent Place School in Summit, New Jersey. He later became head of the Upper School. To celebrate this new chapter, Dick’s parents rented three cottages on Pratts Island on the Sheepscot River in Maine for their children, Dick, Evelyn, and John, and their families. It was there that Dick’s lovefor Maine began. In 1968, Dick and Pat purchased a cabin on Georgetown Island, where they spent Augusts for the next nine years.

In 1976, Dick and Pat divorced, and Dick returned to Massachusetts. He remarried and later divorced during his time as headmaster of Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill. He also pursued a doctorate in counseling psychology at Northeastern University, completing it in 1987. Dick spent the next 30 years working with families, groups, and individuals, where he truly found his stride.

In 1982, Dick met Margaret Earll Waller (Peggy), and they were married in Cooperstown, New York (1984). They lived in East Cambridge, Massachusetts, and later Brookline, and had two children, Samuel and Anna. Together they bought a summercottage in a lobstering village of Phippsburg, Maine.

At 81, Dick retired from Riverside Community Care (Department of Massachusetts Mental Health). He spent his time travelingwith Peggy, sitting on the porch in Maine, reading in the sun, listening to the waves, watching lobster boats, and noting the changes in the breeze—much like his ancestors from Guernsey and Prince Edward Island might have done.

However, retirement never suited him in that he missed his work and its vital connection to the public.

Dick was predeceased by his parents, Eleanor and Richards Burhoe; his sisters Selina Burhoe and Evelyn Page; his brother- in-law and friend Michael Page; his sister-in-law Mary Lou Burhoe; and his first wife Patricia Prevorsek. He will be deeply missed by his wife of 40 years, Margaret Waller Burhoe; his brother John (Carolyn); his children Leslie (Chris), Laurie (Jon), Thomas (Carla), Elizabeth, Sam, and Anna (Grant); his eight grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

A private service will be held in Peabody, Massachusetts, on March 28, 2025.

—Submitted by the family.