Douglas Edwin Burgham was born November 7, 1938 in Nanticoke, PA to Morris Burgham and Doris Webb Burgham, who later moved to Youngstown, Ohio when Doug was a small child. He had two brothers, James and Donald, now deceased.
Doug is survived by his wife of 42 years, Rebecca Grohler; his three children: Pamela Mosher, Karl Burgham, and Dale Burgham; and his step-son, Christopher Hawthorne. He has 14 grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren.
Doug grew up in Youngstown and worked in the sheet-metal trades while continuing his education. He achieved his Bachelor's Degree from Ohio State University and then moved to Champaign, Illinois to take a job as Chairman of the English Department at the newly founded Parkland College. He then began working on his doctorate in higher education at the University of Illinois, and received his Ed.D. in 1976. He devoted his career to two-year community colleges and held the following positions:
Dean of Faculty, Central Virginia Community College, Lynchburg, Virginia
Dean of Faculty, Schenectady County Community college in New York
Dean of Faculty, Lake-Sumter Community College, Leesburg, Florida
Dean of Faculty, Delaware County Community College, Media, Pennsylvania
Provost, New Mexico State University, Carlsbad, New Mexico
Chancellor, Ivy Tech Community College, Columbus, Indiana.
After retiring from Ivy Tech in 2004, he and Rebecca moved to Palmora Park in Leesburg, Florida and enjoyed a beautiful home on Lake Harris.
Doug was a private pilot and loved taking cross-country trips, or just flying to a neighboring airport to have coffee with friends. He was an avid fly-fisherman and also enjoyed hunting and shooting skeet or sporting clays. He was a member of the Morrison United Methodist Church and a former member of the Leesburg Boat Club. He will be missed by his many friends and family who loved his sense of humor and his great story-telling. Doug could talk to anyone about anything any time!
After his first stroke in 2014, Doug suffered from expressive aphasia – a language impairment affecting his ability to speak, read, or write. This greatly diminished his quality of life, but not his love of life. If desired, donations in his honor can be made to the National Aphasia Association at aphasia.org/donate/ or to the American Stroke Association at stroke.org.
