Laurie Burnham passed peacefully into the presence of the Lord on September 27, 2024. Laurie was born Laurel Jean Cook on July 8, 1934 at the Griffith Park Maternity Home in Los Angeles, CA, to Jess and Betty Cook. Her brother Alan was 2 ½ when Laurie joined the family. Laurie grew up in South Pasadena, CA and attended Oneonta Grammar School and South Pasadena-San Marino Jr. High and High Schools, graduating with the class of 1952. She completed her education at Pasadena City College and Los Angeles State University in 1957. While in junior high and through PCC her favorite class was gym! In college she received awards in seven different sports: field hockey, basketball, softball, volleyball, speedball, swimming, and badminton (she won many badminton trophies!) – she was a great lover of sports! She loved life in California. Her early jobs were with recreation departments in South Pasadena and Alhambra, CA.
Laurie and Fred Burnham were married on September 7, 1957 after having known each other since childhood through church and growing up a street apart. Their first three years of marriage were spent in Santa Barbara. While there, she worked for the Chamber of Commerce and he for Aerophysics Development Corporation. Following this, they moved to Mountain View, CA to their first owned home and a brand-new baby, William Bushong Burnham. A year and a half later, Steven DuBois Burnham joined the family. Wonderful neighbors were enjoyed during those years.
In 1962 after visiting family in the Bitter Root Valley, Fred decided to move his family to the beautiful Bitter Root. It was a difficult move for Laurie, as she was a “California Kid” and all her family was there! It didn’t take long for her to fall in love with the family’s new state. Barbara Alice Burnham’s arrival a couple of years later completed the family and they enjoyed their 15 year stay in Corvallis prior to moving to Hamilton in 1977.
During the early years of the family’s life in the Bitter Root, Fred was a logger. Laurie would rise before 3 a.m. to prepare Fred’s meals for the day. Laurie kept a garden each summer, and the family was well fed with game meat and canned garden produce. Fred wasn’t seen much during these long days of work, but Sundays and holidays were precious times spent with family and friends. Sunday afternoons from late May through August from the 1960s through the 1980s were enjoyed at Lake Como boating, floating on inner tubes, and cooking over an open fire with dear friends. Many learned to waterski or enjoyed a tow behind their boat.
On April Fool’s Day in 1972, Fred and Laurie purchased a run-down service station on the north side of Hamilton which they named North Side Center (not on the north side anymore!). For the next 40 years Laurie was in her element behind the till either on her own shift or filling in for a scheduled employee and enjoying the many facets of this business through the decades: Gas ‘n Grub, Fun ‘n Games, Spot Free Car Wash, Richland Ice Cream, the deli, and more. She met and loved many valley residents during these years, and she was loved by many in return.
Laurie was a self-described “doer, not a talker” and she did much in her life. Fred and Laurie were both active in Scouting during their years in Corvallis. Laurie was a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout Leader. In 1977 she was awarded the Silver Beaver Award for distinguished service for making an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the Boy Scout Council. Laurie was also a Brownie and Girl Scout Leader, following her daughter through the ranks of Girl Scouting and continuing beyond, bringing love and fun to other girls after her daughter was grown.
Laurie loved music and she shared this joy at every opportunity. She was often singing at home and in the car, and by the time her children were toddlers they could each hold their own in simple rounds. She loved campfire songs in Girl Scouts, coached a quartet at Corvallis elementary school, and she and her daughter would often harmonize to entertain visitors or when they were guests at other people’s homes. Laurie was part of vocal groups including a Sweet Adeline quartet dubbed The Sweetest Sounds, a vocal ensemble named Lilies of the Valley, she was a founding member of the Bitterroot Valley Chorus (this year is the 52nd presentation and the first that Laurie will not be participating in), and she enjoyed leading patriotic songs with her daughter for the annual Veterans Day celebration at the Ravalli County Museum for the past 11 years, as well as singing duets and trios with her husband, daughter, and granddaughter at church.
Laurie was devoted to many organizations and filled many leadership roles in them: her church (the United Methodist American Baptist Church), Republican Women, Beta Sigma Phi, the Hamilton Women’s Golf Association, the Ravalli County Museum, P.E.O., the Bitterroot Valley Chorus, the Bitterroot Secret Garden Tour, the Hospital Auxiliary, a weekly Bible study, and the last few months of her life she added being a member of the Republican Central Committee. Laurie found great joy through the years in a long term “Outdoors Club” consisting of a few families who enjoyed backpacking, biking, and skiing while their children were in junior high and high school and then beyond as empty nesters. Laurie also found great fun participating in plays with the Hamilton Players as well as serving as an usher. In her early years in the Bitter Root, she played women’s basketball and softball, enjoyed square dancing with the Gay Sashays (Laurie sewed matching outfits for herself, her husband, and her young daughter), and in her later years she enjoyed trips to Missoula to Lady Griz games with friends as well as Hamilton High School musical presentations and sporting events.
Laurie was preceded in death by her husband Fred in 2017 and her brother Alan in 2019.
Laurie is survived by her children Bill of Grantsdale, Steve (Katrina) of Naples, ID, Barbara of Darby; grandchildren Heather (Ryan) of Missoula, Hillary Robinson (Trevor) of Hamilton, Jesse Neale of Great Falls, Terry Mavros (Deirdre) of Corvallis, Alicia of Naples, ID, Meredith Yates (Zach) of Napa, CA, and Kara of Provo, UT; and great-grandchildren Grace, Kioni, Zaiden, Linden, Kian, Blakely, Fenn, and Capri.
Memorial services will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, at 11:00 a.m. at the Daly-Leach Chapel with a reception following in the funeral home’s community room. Condolences may be left for the family at www.dalyleachchapel.com.
