William Howard Burgess Obituary
Prof. Bill Burgess passed peacefully in his 101st year on January 5, 2025, having spent his last day with his daughters at his side. Bill was predeceased by his parents, William Herbert (1981) and Dorothy Meek (1943), his beloved first wife, Mary (1971), and his sister Betty Burgess Benedict (2018). He is tremendously missed by his two daughters Ellen and Ruthie, his second wife J. Hilary Cook, and her two daughters Kathy and Jennie. He is mourned by his nephew Dale Benedict (Marion Kraus), great-nephew Eric (Kassi Lyons), great-niece Brenda (Dan Saban), and his great-great nephews and niece.
Bill was born on March 13, 1924, in Chelsea, MA, and was accepted into Cornell University in 1942. His studies were interrupted in 1944 when he was drafted into the US Army, serving in the Signal Corps until his discharge in 1946. Upon his return to Cornell, he met and eventually married his first wife, Mary, on November 25, 1949. He went on to earn his Phd in 1954 and immigrated to Canada to accept a Professorship of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He taught there until 2004 and remains forever memorable to thousands of Engineering students for his humorous teaching style and determination to see every student succeed.
Professor Burgess received numerous teaching excellence awards, and his legacy is celebrated through the Bill Burgess Teaching Award, which continues to honor his contributions. He was granted the status of Professor Emeritus upon his retirement in 1989. A member of the American Chemical Society, honorary member of Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Xi, and an Association of Professional Engineers of Ontario (APEO) member since 1963, he wore his iron ring proudly. He taught there from 1954-2004 and he remains forever memorable to his university colleagues and thousands of Engineering graduates for his humorous teaching style and determination to see every student succeed. in 2024, he was awarded the King Charles III's Coronation Medal, for having made a significant contribution to Canada or to a particular province, territory, region or community of Canada.
After Mary died from breast cancer in 1971, Bill raised his young daughters on his own and eventually found support and companionship from his second wife Hilary, whom he married in 1988 and with whom he spent his retirement years. In 2016, Bill moved to Long Term Care at the age of 92. Bill was steady man and maintained his wonderful sense of humour throughout the progression of his dementia. He made many friends at the home and the family is grateful to caregivers for himself and his children, including Bill & Lucy Greenslade, Jennie, Peter, Ave, and Sara.
Bill was a man of faith in the goodness of humankind, and he always went out of his way to help those suffering. He was compassionate and kind, ever reminding himself and others that life has many challenges and most do the best they can given their circumstances.
Prof. Burgess' Celebration of Life took place on 1 Feb 2025 at 1 pm, at U of T Trinity College Chapel, 6 Hoskin Ave., Toronto, https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca with a reception to follow at the college. The family welcomes all who knew Bill to attend and share laughter and memories, particularly former students, and colleagues. The service will also be livestreamed at https://m.youtube.com. Arrangements in the care of Morley Bedford https://morleybedford.wordpress.com .
Bill's interment took place on 7 July 2025 at 2PM in the Riverside Cemetery, Oswego NY. Bill loved Oswego from his first visit, when his fiancée Mary brought him home to the family farm on The Hall Rd to meet her parents Fred & Ruth Leadbetter Bond, her Uncle Earl and grandfather Josiah Leadbetter. Bill continued to bring their daughters there, and to care for his aging in-laws, long after Mary's passing. After she passed in 1971 he purchased his own marker stone in Riverside Cemetery, in order to be by her side again one day.
In lieu of flowers, donations celebrating his lifelong excellence in teaching and passion for student learning can be made only to an endowed scholarship fund established at the University of Toronto by his family in his name 'The Professor Bill Burgess Award' at https://uoft.me.
"Onward, then, ye people, join our happy throng; blend with ours your voices in the triumph song." Sabine Baring-Gould "Onward Christian Soldiers"
