Molly Jane Burnap

Molly Jane (Bagwill) Burnap, 90, of Shelter Harbor, passed away at the Westerly Hospital on Thursday, March 30, 2023 with her family by her side. Molly was the loving wife of the late John Bottomley Burnap, Sr., and was born in Seattle, WA to the late John Williams and Amy Munday Bagwill. Molly was the matriarch of the extended Burnap gang and her wide collection of very close friends.

Molly, known affectionately as Mimi to her grandchildren, their friends, and to many others, was known widely for her love, her generosity, and for her baking, among many other things. If you were fortunate enough to be on a sports team or in a play with one of her grandchildren, you probably enjoyed one of the thousands of mini pumpkin chocolate chip muffins she made and delivered to the sidelines or backstage. She was a devoted fan in both situations. Mimi was also famous for the 1,000 Christmas cookies she would bake each year, where her kitchen (and her skirts) were perpetually covered in flour for the month of December. As grandchildren headed off to college or military service, they often received Mimi Care Packages of cookies and muffins. The freshly made goods came out of the oven and were rushed to the Post Office in Westerly for overnight delivery across the country. In her multi-generational clan, many birthdays were celebrated at Mimi's house, where birthday candles and extra wrapping paper was always at the ready. And who can forget the many years she hosted Thanksgiving at her home for 30 family members, close friends, and friends-of-friends – two turkeys, a ton of side dishes, and do I count a dozen pies? Time for a nap before we start playing charades. Need a meal or a place to sleep for a day or a week or a month? Call Mimi. When she wasn't baking and feeding everyone in her orbit, she loved gardening (she had two green thumbs), clamming in Quonnie Pond, or driving her various grandchildren to their games, appointments, and playdates.

Games, games, and more games – Mimi was skilled at many, and she loved spending hours with her family members playing gin rummy, Chinese checkers, dominoes, or any of dozen board games that were always close at hand – only rarely would anyone beat her in a game. No opponents? She was also a wiz at sudoku and solitaire. For music she loved 40s and 50's big band swing and the soundtracks of classical Broadway musicals, including Sound of Music and South Pacific.

Basically, Mimi devoted her life to her family and reveled in the time spent with her children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. Her legacy of strong family values and mischief lives on in those who will miss her most profoundly: her four children and their spouses / partners John Burnap Jr (and Caroline Plamondon) of Cranston, RI, Tim Burnap (and Allison) of Wakefield, RI, Susan Boston (and Loren) of New Canaan, CT and Amy Burnap (and Kathleen D'Haene) of Meredith, NH; her fourteen grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren, all of whom she lived for and was immensely proud of (and bragged about constantly to anyone who would listen); former daughter-in-law Lauren Burnap of Westerly, a brother John Bagwill (and Lee) of Middletown; and many nieces and nephews. Molly was predeceased by a granddaughter Morgan Boston of New Canaan, CT and her brother Phil Bagwill, formerly of Seattle, WA.

A Celebration of Life will be held in the future by the family. Expect a party full of Mimi stories. Remember the time at the family wedding, when Mimi jumped in the swimming pool in her formal dress? or how about the time she was baking chocolate chip cookies in a hurry, and put frozen blueberries in the mix instead of chocolate chips? or the time that Mimi...

In lieu of flowers, donations are welcome at the Weekapaug Foundation https://weekapaugfoundation.org/ or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in memory of Morgan Boston at https://www.mskcc.org/