Deceased July 28, 2022
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In Memory
Larry Burwell died on July 28, 2022, after a lengthy and debilitating illness. With birthdays merely one month apart and childhood homes a mere city block away from one another, our friendship lasted for more than 80 years. Larry’s recent passing is a personal loss to me as well as to his lovely family, colleagues and patients. We played together as toddlers, and when formal education began, we both enrolled at Lucy Diggs Slowe Elementary, Benjamin Banneker Junior High and Paul Lawrence Dunbar High Schools in Washington, D.C.
At Dunbar, Larry played football and was lieutenant colonel in the Dunbar Cadet Corps. He was a leader on the Student Council and the Principal’s Advisory Council. He was also a Boy Scout in Troop #527, hosted by Vermont Avenue Baptist Church in Washington., D.C.
We graduated at the top of our class from Dunbar in 1955 and were recruited actively by local Black alumni from Amherst College. Amherst was always the first choice for Larry and me. So when we, along with Bob Jason ’59, received admission letters to Amherst, we eagerly accepted spots in the class of ’59. We pledged the two local fraternities on campus at that time. Larry joined Phi Psi; Bob and I joined Kappa Theta.
Larry majored in biology and graduated cum laude. His thesis research was on fruit fly genetics with Professor Bill Hexter. Both of us were science-oriented and interested in the health professions. We spent many an hour while at Amherst in the biology library or sitting atop Memorial Hill, talking through issues and options, various pathways, personal objectives and future aspirations. Those discussions served to shape and reinforce our respective plans and decisions.
After graduation, our paths were nearly set to continue in medical studies at Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio. However, my faculty interviewer at WRU encouraged me to consider applying to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, to which he was about to relocate. After visiting Michigan, I decided to enroll in their medical science program. Hence, we diverged paths at that point. He moved to Cleveland, finished the M.D. degree with honors at WRU and matched for a residency at the Cleveland Clinic. Larry chose a career practicing clinical medicine as an academician; my preference was basic biomedical scientific research, teaching and administration as a medical educator. Though approached from different perspectives, we both ended up in academic medicine.
Larry excelled academically, graduated at the top of his medical class and earned induction into the medical honor society, Alpha Omega Alpha. His choice of specialties was internal medicine with a concentration in cardiology. For postgraduate training, he accepted a position at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and continued his training at Mass. General Hospital in Boston. After a brief faculty appointment at the University of Rochester, Larry joined the medical staff at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. A distinguished career as an expert diagnostician of adult cardiac diseases and a pioneer practitioner of balloon angioplasty followed at UVA Medical Center.
As best man in Larry’s wedding to Ramona Scott in 1964, I continued to remain close. When his first son, Lawrence Scott Burwell ’90, was born, Larry asked me to be his godfather. However, fulfillment of that honor was impractical because of the physical distance between us and our respectively busy schedules.
Larry was a gentleman, a scholar and a devoted husband and father. Ramona’s early loss was devastating, leaving him a widower with four children. However, Larry kept his focus and devotion to his patients, his family and many interests, including photography. When Larry learned of my engagement in underwater photography, another shared interest emerged. We exchanged photographs and discussed limitations of working with still and video cameras in submerged settings.
We spoke often about attending reunions. He returned to Dunbar for our 50th and to Amherst for our 50th Reunions. Because of international research commitments, I missed both events but learned about what went on and always felt connected through Larry. We compared notes infrequently by phone and email, representing one another when not together.
In 2009, an Amherst student, Amanda Bass ’10, who was researching Dunbar High School, interviewed Larry and me to get information about the history of Dunbar. Her honors thesis was entitled “The Crimson Tide: Oral Histories of Dunbar High School.” Amanda accompanied Larry to the 50th high school reunion in 2005, a highlight for both of them.
We were invited to write a contribution about being Black at Amherst for the 50th Reunion class booklet. Since Bob Jason ’59 and Tony Creswell ’59, the other Black students in our class, had died, the task was left to Larry and me to complete. Our joint contribution to the class of ’59’s memento, “… the journey continues,” was a major joint effort that led to the creation of an article entitled “Young, Gifted and Black at Amherst College–1955-1959.” My draft of the original text got us started. Larry added several new issues, smoothed over rough spots and moderated the tone of our joint message. We steadily revised the document, improving it as we edited through email exchanges. That cooperative process resulted in a final statement that was published.
Larry attended our 50th from Amherst and joined a panel discussing the status of modern medicine. I waited until the 60th to return, just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also asked to be a medical panelist, I discussed advancements in medical education and the emergence of patient-centered services since the 1950’s. At the 60th Reunion in 2019, an Amherst faculty member and dean of faculty cited our “Young, Gifted and Black” text in a report that she had prepared to compare and contrast the Black student experiences at Amherst in prior decades with the present. She referenced our description of challenges, social isolation and lack of support from the College to more recent positive experiences enjoyed by Black students. It was a surprise to hear her account. She was not aware of my presence, nor had I expected that our article would be mentioned. After the presentation, I introduced myself as one of the authors of that article. She appeared pleased to meet me.
A few years ago, I was diagnosed with a cardiac arrhythmia. When I told Larry, his response was not to worry. He assured me that many otherwise healthy individuals receive the same diagnosis which is not clinically significant. His reassurance was a great relief, and I sincerely appreciated his reassurance.
Recently, two book chapters have been published by Amherst College Press, authored by an Amherst student, Matt Randolph ’16, a Black student from Baltimore. He has highlighted the Dunbar-Amherst connection over many years. These excellent summaries include interviews with me and other Black alumni. They are included in two publications. One is entitled Amherst in the World (2020), edited by Martha Saxton. Matt’s chapter is entitled “Remembering Dunbar: Amherst College and African American Education in Washington, D.C.” That article mentions Larry, Bob Jason ’59 and me as recruits from the Dunbar Class of ’55. The other book is authored by Nancy Pick and is entitled Eye Mind Heart: A View of Amherst College at 200 (2020). Matt’s contribution is “1903-1957, the Dunbar High School Pipeline.” Both of these publications reference the long pipeline from Dunbar to Amherst.
Larry is survived by four very accomplished adult children: Scott ’90, Steve ’93, Leigh ’03 and Lauren (Williams ’96), and their respective families. He will be missed by them and by many grandchildren, colleagues, patients and friends. However, each of us will retain fond memories of Dr. Larry Burwell’s professional intellect and dedicated work ethic, as well as his calm, gentle demeanor and his warm and caring heart. May he rest in peace.
Ray Hayes ’59