Necrology

Frederick Clinton Burdick '53

Jun. 5, 1931-Oct. 28, 2022

Frederick Clinton Burdick ’53 died in Albany on Oct. 28, 2022. Born in Clinton on June 5, 1931, he came to Hamilton from Clinton Central High School. On the Hill he majored in English literature and psychology while preparing for a career as a teacher. He was a member of Chi Psi fraternity, played junior varsity hockey as a freshman, sophomore, and senior, and joined the Newman Club in his final year. His practice teaching took place at his former high school, and he reportedly held his students to a high standard.

Upon graduating, Fred proceeded to what was then the New York State College for Teachers in Albany where he earned a master’s degree in English literature in 1954. In January 1955, he was inducted into the Army and sent to Germany. He was honorably discharged in December 1956 with the rank of specialist 4 and earned the Good Conduct Medal. 

He began his career in public education the next year when he was hired to teach English at Bethlehem School District’s high school in Delmar, N.Y. On April 7, 1958, he married Patricia Carroll Curry. They had two sons and two daughters, and their marriage lasted 60 years until Pat’s death in 2018. Fred taught high school English for 11 years, but ultimately decided to pursue a career as an educational administrator. To prepare, he enrolled in the doctoral program in school administration at SUNY Albany, earning an education specialist degree in 1968. 

Appointed principal of the Bethlehem Junior High School that same year, he accepted the challenge of transforming it to a middle school. Fred developed strategies to address the concerns of the two principal stakeholders: parents and teachers. To create a space for parents to voice their concerns and suspicions, he organized a parents’ group through which he developed support over time. For the faculty, Fred promoted the idea of team teaching by organizing teams and encouraging each group to forge its own consensus for presenting the curriculum associated with each grade. He was successful in guiding the transformation, and in his entry for his 40th reunion yearbook he wrote with justifiable pride that he “organized Bethlehem School District’s first middle school 25 years ago — still going strong!” 

Even as he presided over the middle school, Fred was engaged in several important community initiatives. He was a charter member of Bethlehem Opportunities Unlimited, founded in 1983 to address underage abuse of alcohol and other drugs. For a term, he was president of the Suburban Scholastic Principals Council for the schools in Bethlehem’s athletic conference. In recognition of these accomplishments, Fred was honored as the “1993 Secondary Principal of the Year” by the Capital Area School Development Association. 

In 1994, after 34 years as a teacher and administrator, Fred retired, or so he said. For the next 10 years he worked for the Capital Region’s Board of Cooperative Educational Services in the Albany area. He played a major role in the development of the regional scoring protocol for the New York State English Language Arts Tests for fourth, sixth, and eighth grades. 

A man of faith, Fred was a communicant and eucharistic minister at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church in Delmar and served on its pastoral council, on the St. Thomas school board, and on various church committees. In his later years, he was also a member of the pastoral council for the Diocese of Albany. In 2014, he completed a short book titled The Other Iscariot. In addition to playing golf, Fred was an avid skier, bridge player, amateur painter, and traveler. He and Pat visited more than 30 countries.

For Fred, Hamilton provided lessons and experiences that proved invaluable in his career. In his 50th reunion yearbook in 2003, Fred wrote: “I got a lot out of my college years, some of which helped through my two years in the military. And, of course, the fine teaching that we were exposed to helped me greatly in my career. I still value the four years that we suffered through compulsory public speaking, and the knowledge that we adhered to an honor system, and I learned to bring that with us into our life’s relationships thereafter.”

Fred repaid the College by serving as a member of his class committee and its reunion gift and planning committees, and as a member of the Alumni Council. He scouted for potential students as a volunteer for the Career Center, assisted with the Priorities for Hamilton capital campaign, and was a regular contributor to the Hamilton Fund.

Frederick C. Burdick was predeceased by his wife and by his father, Harold B. Burdick, Class of 1923. He is survived by his brother, Daniel H. Burdick II ’58, four children, and eight grandchildren.

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