The Westerly Historical Society

 

Prominent Westerly Personalities

 

We Preserve Memories of the Past

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Web master:  Susan Cline

Howard Frederick Burdick, Sr.

 

 A direct descendant of Robert Burdick, an English farmer who arrived in or around Westerly in 1658, Howard F. Burdick was born in Avondale, R.I. on January 6, 1901.  He attended the village school in Avondale as well as the Westerly’s Elm Street School. He was a commercial fisherman, served in the United States Coast Guard and with the Coast Guard Reserve.

 His writing career began, at the age of 16, when he described the sailing races on the Pawcatuck River and in Little Narragansett Bay for Ben Utter.  His eventual column, which ran in The Westerly Sun, was entitled “Along The Shore” and it became a blend of his observations, philosophy, and recollections.  Many of these were compiled and published by the Westerly Historical Society in 1988.  In the Foreword, H. Burdick, Sr. was described by then President Edgar Carroll as a “living legend and a most prolific journalist since 1933’.

 In tribute to Mr. Burdick, who died on September 22, 2003, we will select and reprint some excerpts of his letters and essays during the next year.  Please join us and enjoy another trip “Along The Shore”.   

                 Edgar Carroll

 

Edgar Carroll, 83, of Pickering Drive, Westerly, died on Tuesday morning, July 25, 2006, at The Westerly Hospital. He leaves his wife, Elizabeth (Goff) Carroll of Westerly. They were married on August 23, 1947.

 

He also leaves his son, Robert Edgar Carroll of Westerly; his daughter, Dianne E. Bullock of Stonington; his sister, Phyllis Defanti of Camden, S.C.; his grandson, David J. Bullock; his granddaughter, Karen C. Bullock; and many nieces and nephews.

 

Mr. Carroll was born in Bradford, England, on Oct. 30, 1922, the son of the late Joseph A. and Ethel (Hyde) Carroll.

 

He was a graduate of Westerly High School and went on to serve in the United States Air Force. He was a sergeant in the 450th Bomb Group, 723rd Squadron. He was a waist gunner on the second raid of oil fields in Ploesti, Romania, when his plane was shot down on April 5, 1944. He was a prisoner of war in Bucharest, Romania, and earned the Air Medal with 2 clusters and the Purple Heart. Mr. Carroll went on to work as a postal worker for 37 years.

 

He was a past member of the Franklin Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons, past president of the YMCA Men’s Club, past state commander of the Rhode Island Chapter 1 Ex-POWs, a volunteer patient advocate at the VA hospital for 10 years, second vice-president of the Josiah Broadfoot Chapter 6 of the Disabled American Veterans, member of the staff of the world famous Passion Play in Lake Wales, Fla., member of the staff at the former Cypress Gardens, Fla., past president of the Westerly Historical Society and executive board, a former incorporator of the Westerly Library, former member of the Church of Good Shepherd of Lake Wales, Fla., former officer of Towerwood of Lake Wales, Fla., a member of the Westerly Senior Center and its Songbirds, and a member and past vestryman of Christ Church, Westerly. He was an avid salt water fisherman who loved boating and was a fan of the New York Yankees.