Richard T. Burtis

1934 - 2023

Dr. Richard Thomas Burtis, 89, of Brattleboro, VT, passed away peacefully on October 18, 2023 at Bradley House. He was a devoted husband, loving parent, loyal friend, and a great teller of bad jokes. He practiced as a physician in Brattleboro for five decades and was widely respected for his medical acumen, good cheer, humility, and kindness. He will be remembered as a true force for good in his community and will be missed by the many people he touched in his nearly 60 years in the Brattleboro area.

Richard ("Dick") Burtis was born on February 9, 1934 in Baldwin, NY, the son of Theodore Alfred Burtis and Florence Angela Burtis (née Whalen). The youngest by 10 years of three children, Dick liked to joke that his arrival was a "Depression surprise." Dick grew up on Long Island, Mt Lebanon, PA, and Swarthmore, PA.

An exceptional student and athlete, Dick attended Swarthmore College, where he studied zoology and played varsity football and lacrosse. After graduating in 1955, Burtis and his college roommate Michael Dukakis hitchhiked to Mexico City, enjoying many adventures along the way. That fall, as one of two inaugural Keasbey Fellows, Dick matriculated at New College, Oxford University, where he studied anatomy and played on the lacrosse and rugby teams. In the summer between his years at Oxford, Dick studied in post-war Vienna, which left him with a lasting fondness for Austrians, the German language, the Alps, and, rather uniquely, liverwurst. After Oxford, Dick attended Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1960.

During his residency in Cleveland, Dick met a young nurse, Irene Miriam Macur. The couple married in November, 1963. Declining offers from big-city hospitals, they instead chose the rural life and moved to the Brattleboro area in 1965 with one-year-old daughter Jenny. They settled on Hale Road in Guilford, where they raised three children, several dogs and cats, and numerous farm animals. The Burtises moved into Brattleboro permanently in 2008. Dick was drawn to Vermont for its peaceful mountains and wild beauty, and remained an avid skier, cyclist, and bird watcher into his eighties.

Dr. Burtis operated a private practice in Brattleboro for nearly 50 years, and was closely affiliated with Brattleboro Memorial Hospital. He served as president of the Vermont Medical Society in 1986. Near the end of his career, he was attending physician at the School for International Training and volunteered periodically on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Dick Burtis is survived by Irene, his wife of nearly 60 years, his children Jenny, Krista, and Patrick, and one grandchild. The family is forever grateful to the staff of Bradley House, Bayada Hospice, and Care in Vermont for their kindness, skill, and thoughtfulness in caring for Dick in his final years.

A service will be held at St. Michael's Episcopal Church (16 Bradley Avenue, Brattleboro, VT) on Saturday, October 28, at 11:00am, followed immediately by a reception at the Brattleboro Country Club (58 Senator Gannett Drive, Brattleboro, VT), where we anticipate many stories about "Doctor B" will be shared; as Dick would say, "Some of them might even be true!" In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Dr. Burtis' name may be made to St. Michael's Episcopal Church, 16 Bradley Ave., Brattleboro, VT 05301; Bradley House, 65 Harris Ave., Brattleboro, VT 05301; and the Bayada Hospice Fund, 1222 Putney Rd., Suite 107, Brattleboro, VT 05301.

To share a memory or offer condolences to the family, please visit www.atamaniuk.com.