Patricia Ann (Orr) Burnhamof Hanover, New Hampshire, died on Wednesday, April 15 at the Kendal Retirement Community where she lived. She was 81.

Pat was born in Omaha, Nebraska and lived in several Midwestern towns until her family moved to Illinois where Pat started the 8th grade. She attended University High School, and was awarded the Outstanding Alumni award in 2012. She was a graduate of DePauw University where she was a Phi Beta Kappa. She later earned her doctorate in Education/Administration from Illinois State University. In Illinois she taught English courses in high school and college and later worked for the Illinois Board of Education.

For several years she and her husband lived in Columbus, Ohio where Pat was a high level executive at Nationwide Insurance Company, and she and her husband both had administrative roles at Ohio State University.

Moving to New York City, she was a Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank, and was in charge of their student loan division while her husband, Robert Burnham, was Dean of Education at New York University.

She and her husband lived in Northern Vermont for many years. Pat became active working on issues of health for elders and interacted many times with the Vermont legislature. She was also chair of the board of Vermont Regional Hospital in Lyndonville, Vermont. In 1994 she published her book Life's Third Act.

Moving to Hanover, New Hampshire in 2005, she was trained as a palliative care worker for Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and taught several courses for the ILIAD program connected to Dartmouth College. She was an active member of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, UCC, and served on the Board of Deacons for Congregational Life and was also a mentor to several young women as they went through the confirmation process.

Pat took a leadership role on many committees at the Kendal retirement community, primarily focusing on health issues. She was an avid reader and loved to talk about the latest issues in politics. She and her husband planted extensive gardens around every home where they lived. She also loved to travel and was able to visit a number of different countries in her later years.

She was the beloved wife of the late Robert Burnham and the loving mother of Lucinda Shaw and her husband John of Niceville, Florida, Christopher White and his wife Rebecca of Del City, Oklahoma, and her youngest son Duncan Burnham of Bloomington, Illinois. She maintained a loving relationship with Teya Burnham and Jessica Burnham-Hinton of Texas, daughters of her late husband. She is also survived by her six grandchildren, Max, Paul, Rolf, Rachelle, PJ, Gina and Jorge. She also leaves behind her sister Kay and her husband Clark and several nieces and nephews.

A service to celebrate Pat's life will be held at a later date at her church in Hanover. Friends and relatives will be kindly invited. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, 40 College Street, Hanover, NH 03755 or the Palliative Care Program at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital, Lebanon, New Hampshire.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Rand-Wilson Funeral Home of Hanover, NH.