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Gail Burgermaster (1950 - 2003)

A photo of Gail Burgermaster
Gail Burgermaster
1950 - 2003
Born
November 10, 1950
Newark, Essex County, New Jersey, United States
Death
November 26, 2003
Last Known Residence
Canaan, Columbia County, New York 12029
Summary
Gail Burgermaster of Canaan, Columbia County, New York was born on November 10, 1950 in Newark, Essex County, New Jersey United States to Gertrude C Burgermaster and George Burgermaster. She had siblings Bruce Burgermaster and Brenda Lengyel. Gail was baptized in 1956. Gail Burgermaster died at age 53 years old on November 26, 2003, and was buried on December 21, 2003 in New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York.
Updated: March 18, 2023
Biography ID: 44345361

Gail Burgermaster's Biography

Family, friend, or fan this Collaborative Biography is for you to show & tell Gail's life so that she is always remembered.
About Gail

Introduction

Gail was a professional chef, horticulturist, humanitarian, and artist. Her undergraduate studies were in fine arts through Cornell University, the University of Rochester, and Norwich University. Additionally, she spent nearly a decade studying horticulture and fine arts through an apprenticeship placement at the Rochester Folk Art Guild, where she was also a chef. At the RFAG she did both extensive sustainable farming and long-term artistic studies directly with an Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keefe understudy. Later, she worked on her PhD in education, doing extensive fieldwork in Africa and the Caribbean.

She also worked on a Nobel international relations initiative for decades as a language liaison and resource facilitator and she spent over half a decade doing housing advocacy and community integration work, for which she received national recognition.

She lived in NY with her family.
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Gail Burgermaster
Most commonly known as
Full legal name
None stated
Other names or aliases

Name & aliases

Canaan, Columbia County, New York 12029
Last place lived

Last residence

November 10, 1950
Birthday
Newark, Essex County, New Jersey United States
Birth location

Birth details

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Ethnicity & Family History

What is Gail's ethnicity and where did her parents, grandparents & great-grandparents come from?

Nationality & Locations

Gail was an American citizen.

Education

Cornell University, the University of Rochester, Norwich University: Bachelor of Arts; with extensive coursework and international fieldwork in education towards her PhD

Religion

1956
Baptism date
New Jersey United States
Place of worship

Baptism date & location

Episcopalian

Professions

Gail was a professional chef, horticulturist, artist, housing and community advocate, and community liaison; she was also a trained mediator. She did extensive humanitarian work and raised a family.

Personal Life

Gail contributed nearly a decade's worth of work to the Rochester Folk Art Guild, where she was a horticulture apprentice and a fine arts understudy in the direct traditions of Alfred Stieglitz and Georgia O'Keeffe. Gail had a lifelong relationship with Cornell University, where she took classes over the years; attended church, many lectures, and campus events; volunteered her time; and where her daughter attended school on invitation. Notably, Gail received special posthumous recognition in 2015 for her nearly lifelong work on a Nobel initiative. Gail Burgermaster was in a relationship with Thomas M.

Military Service

Gail's family had some minimal military background, with a focus on peacekeeping measures.
November 26, 2003
Death date
Unknown
Cause of death
Unknown
Death location

Death details

December 21, 2003
Funeral date
New Lebanon, Columbia County, New York 12125, United States
Burial location

Gravesite & burial

Obituary

On Wednesday, November 26, 2003, Gail Burgermaster, loving mother, passed away just days past her birthday at the age of 53. Gail was born on November 10, 1950 in Newark, NJ to George and Gertrude (Clark) Burgermaster. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Norwich University in 1989, after prior coursework at Cornell University and the University of Rochester and a break to raise her family; she was completing her PhD in education at the time of her death. Gail loved art and photography. She had an extraordinary observational acumen for all artwork and enjoyed visiting countless art museums and galleries throughout New York City, Central and Upstate New York, Madrid, and Africa, among other places. She completed an extensive collection of her own pastels, watercolors, and ink and pencil drawings throughout her life, with a prolific addition of original pieces in calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting. She also loved the natural world and she blended her two main pastimes to create an extensive mixed media art portfolio, which she displayed at Norwich University for family and many friends. She contributed original artwork to local organizations for media use and volunteered considerable time to her communities. Gail loved classical literature and was a gifted writer. She had a deep appreciation for classical and social histories, which she also combined with her love of the natural world, often quoting writers like Thoreau, Yeats, and Steinbeck. She frequently told the story of how she came to love nature and art, sharing details about her observations of the seasons as a child, which she elaborated on in her thesis. She was an avid music lover, collecting many instruments over the years and attending countless local and intercontinental concerts. She was known for her adroit humor, observant worldview, exceptional devotion to her family and work, and her compassion. Gail was preceded in death by her father, George, and her mother, Gertrude. She is survived by her son, David, and her daughter, Elisabeth, her sister, her brother, and several cousins, nieces, and nephews.

Average Age & Life Expectancy

Gail Burgermaster lived 18 years shorter than the average Burgermaster family member when she died at the age of 53.
The average age of a Burgermaster family member is 71.
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Memories: Stories & Photos

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Gail Burgermaster
A photo of Gail Burgermaster's artwork
Date & Place: in New York United States
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Gail had deep penchants for art and the natural world with an unusual devotion. She was also a devoted mother and friend, world traveler, reader, educator, and humanitarian.
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Family Tree & Friends

Gail's immediate relatives including parents, siblings, partnerships and children in the Burgermaster family tree.

Friends

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1950 - 2003 World Events

Refresh this page to see various historical events that occurred during Gail's lifetime.

In 1950, in the year that Gail Burgermaster was born, on October 2, Charlie Brown appeared in the first Peanuts comic strip - created by Charles Schultz - and he was the only character in that strip. That year, Schultz said that Charlie was 4 years old, but Charlie aged a bit through the years.

In 1963, she was just 13 years old when on November 22nd, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson became the 36th President of the United States when President John Kennedy was shot and killed in Dallas, Texas. Johnson was sworn in on the plane carrying Kennedy's body back to Washington D.C.

In 1971, she was 21 years old when in March, Intel shipped the first microprocessor to Busicom, a Japanese manufacturer of calculators. The microprocessor has since allowed computers to become smaller and faster, leading to smaller and more versatile handheld devices, home computers, and supercomputers.

In 1981, when she was 31 years old, on January 20th, Ronald Reagan became the 40th President of the United States. He ran against the incumbent, Jimmy Carter, and won 50.7% of the popular vote to Carter's 41.0%.

In 1991, by the time she was 41 years old, on December 25th, the Soviet Union flag was lowered and replaced by the Russian tricolor flag. It was the end of the Soviet Union. Mikhail Gorbachev resigned as President of the Soviet Union and Boris Yeltsin became President of the Russian Republic.

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