Edith Wise Burpee

Edith Wise Burpee, a long-time resident of Rye, died peacefully at her house in Cape Vincent on the St. Lawrence River on December 15. She was known to friends and family as Qxzy, a nickname supposedly coined by her Scrabble-loving father.

Mrs. Burpee was born on November 26, 1926, in Spuyten Duyvil, the youngest of four children. She attended several schools in New York and was graduated from the Brearley School in 1944. Following Brearley, she completed a year-long course at the Katharine Gibbs School and worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering. She moved to Houston to work at the MD Anderson Hospital and met George (Sandy) Burpee of Bronxville who was working in San Antonio at the time; they married on August 27, 1955. They bought their house on Guion Road in early 1957 and welcomed five children. Mrs. Burpee worked part-time as a medical transcriptionist at Greenwich Hospital and helped establish the hospital's Home Care program.

Life changed dramatically for the family in November 1967 when Mrs. Burpee lost her sight following a streptococcus infection. After nine weeks in the hospital she returned home and resumed her household tasks and learned Braille. She enrolled in the Seeing Eye in April 1968 and arrived back in Rye with the first of her six Seeing Eye dogs. She and her dogs became a daily fixture on the streets of Rye; she was often joined by her friend Carole Worthington who also had a guide dog. Mrs. Burpee was frequently invited to speak to school and community groups about her experiences; she dubbed these talks "The Joys of Blindness."

Mrs. Burpee was active in the Midland PTO, Christ's Church and led a Girl Scout troop for several years. She was keenly involved in the community and regularly attended school board and city council meetings, school concerts and talks on current events and foreign policy, always with a knitting project to occupy her hands. In the late 1970's, she was tapped by the Rye Youth Council to run the Rye Youth Employment Service, a volunteer post which she held for almost a decade. The connections she made between students and employers built skills and resulted in many long-term friendships and opportunities. According to a Gannett article, the RYES placed 800 students in jobs in 1982-3.

After the death of her husband Sandy in 1995, Mrs. Burpee continued travelling to Cape Vincent during the summers. There she tended to her extensive garden of perennials, flowering shrubs, herbs and vegetables; she loved swimming, sailing and canoeing in the river; riding the tandem bicycle with friends and family and walking with her dog to the village or the lighthouse. She was active in the local Improvement League and enjoyed meeting with friends to play bridge. In spite of diminishing hearing, Mrs. Burpee remained connected to the world via a headset radio tuned to a variety of news, talk and gardening programs.

Mrs. Burpee leaves her children, Eva, of Rye, Louise (Randy Basinger) of Irmo, SC, Elizabeth of Knoxville, TN, George (Jocelyn Check) and Didi (Tom Beierle) both of Seattle, WA, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and her companion dog, Patty.

A memorial service will be held at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to Hospice of Jefferson County (NY) or a charity of your choice.