Beverly Burdick Thorngate, 93, of Whitewater, passed away on Sunday, August 4, 2019, at St. Mary’s Hospital in Madison.
Beverly Ann Burdick was born on June 15,1926, to Russell and Dora (Whitford) Burdick in Plainfield, NJ.
At the age of one she moved with her parents to Milton, where she lived until graduating magna cum laude from Milton College in 1948. Following graduation, she worked as a social worker in Indianapolis.
She married Stephen Thorngate on August 28, 1949, at the Seventh Day Baptist Church in Milton. His medical career took them to Cleveland, OH; St. Paul, MN; Pebble Beach, CA; Hyden, KY; Bridgeport, WV; and Park Falls, WI. They moved to Fairhaven Senior Services in Whitewater in November 2009.
After her children were all in school, Beverly worked as a librarian at Forest Grove Elementary School in Pacific Grove, CA, and again in Hyden; she did graduate work in library science in Kentucky and West Virginia. Her passion was books – in particular, children’s books, which she loved to collect and give to her grandchildren and great grandchildren. In addition, she loved music and taught piano lessons. She was an excellent cook and loved travel, including Elderhostels.
Beverly was preceded in death by her parents, her brother-in-law, Mark Case; and great-granddaughter Cora Jan Thorgate-Gales. She is survived by her devoted husband of nearly 70 years, Dr. Stephen Thorngate; sisters Marjorie (Wayne) Munns of Rochester, MN and Joan Case of Carson City, NV; daughters Diane (Paul) Griffith of Beavercreek, OH, and Patricia Thorngate of Milton; sons Stephen (Lisa) Thorngate of Burlington and Russell Thorngate of Medford; 13 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.
A celebration of Beverly’s life will take place on Wednesday, Aug. 21, at 2 pm at Fairhaven Senior Services in Whitewater. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial gifts to the Milton Seventh Day Baptist Church or the Fairhaven Foundation.
