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George M. Burlingame, 92, died in the early morning of February
28, 2020, after a brief illness.
A memorial service will be held at Calvary Baptist Church on
Saturday, March 7, 2020 at 2 p.m.
Born on July 14, 1927 in Illinois to George W. and Marion
Googins Burlingame, he grew up in Brownsville, Texas where his
parents had moved 1400 miles to escape the cold Chicago winters.
Many of his formative years he spent helping his parents run The
Gulf Breeze, a small motel, grocery store and gas station on
Boca Chica Boulevard.
He graduated from El Jardin High School and enlisted in the army
to fight in WWII. After his tour, he entered Southwest Texas at
San Marcos on the GI Bill, graduating with a MS degree in
chemistry. Shortly thereafter while in Colorado, he met and fell
in love with Beverly Gail Watson. After marrying, they moved
1100 miles south to Corpus Christi, Texas to – yes- escape the
cold. There, he worked as a chemist for Celanese while Gail
finished her teaching degree, but some years later he felt
dentistry calling and so they and their now four children,
Linda, Connie, Loreta, and Bob, packed up and moved to Houston.
Four impoverished years later, he graduated from the University
of Texas Dental School at Houston. The evening before his state
board exams, Gail went into labor and William Watson Burlingame
entered the world. Incidentally, those four years of bare-bones
existence to pursue his dream of practicing dentistry served as
a life-long lesson to his offspring with three of the five
following suit and returning to school in mid-life to
successfully pursue different careers.
After dental school, they moved again, after falling in love
with the charms of Bay City (in ’66 the town boasted largely of
rice farmers, grass farmers, and cattle ranchers AND it was
close to good fishing!) Building up his nascent practice filled
George’s weekdays but on weekends he could be found volunteering
at various Rotary functions, gardening, bowhunting or fishing at
Matagorda beach, most often with his two sons. Every spring he
grew his own tomatoes, yellow squash, and Swiss chard, along
with a few rose bushes from which he frequently created small
bouquets for Gail. George never yearned for a luxurious
lifestyle which dentistry might have afforded; he was happiest
with the simple life, and his philosophy at work was that he
didn’t want the pursuit of dental health to become financially
burdensome for anyone.
After successfully practicing dentistry for thirty-five years,
he retired and was either with Gail or on weekly guided fishing
trips with Al Garrison, trips generously provided by his son Bob
as a retirement gift. When Gail died in July of 2002, George
lost much of his joy in life. It wasn’t until he met Ginger
White five years later and overheard her say she wanted to go
fishing that he regained the spring in his step. He began
courting her -on Al’s boat, of course - and they married in 2007
with much laughter filling their home over the next twelve
years. A few years into their marriage, his daughter Connie
presented him with a Malti-poo puppy who also stole his heart.
Sugar became his beloved companion, and her favorite place was
on his lap to the very end.
And George, at 92, was still fishing once a month or so,
although not as long, and often assisted by Al or his sons.
Still, he was able to feel the ocean breeze, the warmth of the
sun, and hear the cry of gulls as he cast his line into the
waters of Matagorda Bay. On the day before his fall and
subsequent stroke several weeks ago, his son Bill had called to
tell him of a fishing trip he and Bob had planned for early
March and was Dad interested? His response was the response he
had offered most throughout his long life: a resounding, “Yes!”
He is pre-deceased by Gail Burlingame; and his sister, Frances
Burlingame Unruh.
He is survived by his wife, Ginger Burlingame; his sister, Sonia
Morris, his brother, David Burlingame; his five children, Linda
and David Cartwright, Connie and Ross Field, Loreta and Rob
Peebles, Bob and Lisa Burlingame, and Bill and Sherri
Burlingame. He is also survived by twelve grand-children and
seventeen great- grand-children.
Bay City Tribune, March 15, 2020
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Beverly Gail Burlingame
Beverly Gail Burlingame, 72, Bay City, died after a lengthy illness
July 27, 2002 at the Methodist Hospital in Houston.
She was born April 13, 1930 in Rock Springs, WY to the late Claude
and Myrtle Decker Watson.
Mrs. Burlingame was a resident of Bay City since 1966, and attended
the Methodist and Presbyterian Church. She was a retired teacher
with Bay City and Van Vleck Independent School District, with 36
years of service. She was a member of Texas Classroom Teachers
Association and the Bay City Book Review Club.
Survivors include: her loving and devoted husband Dr. George
Burlingame of Bay City; 3 daughters and sons-in-law: Linda and David
Cartwright of Bay City, Connie and Ross Field of Houston, Loreta and
Rob Peebles of Dallas; 2 sons and daughters-in-law: Bob and Lisa
Burlingame of Sherman, Texas, and Bill and Sheri Burlingame of
Longview, Texas, brother: Jay Watson of Italy, Texas; and 12
grandchildren.
Funeral service will be 2 p. m. Wednesday, July 31, 2002, at the
First Presbyterian Church with the Rev. Sam Steele officiating.
Private interment will be at a later date.
Pallbearers will be her grandsons: Marc and Matthew Byrd, Todd and
Chris Thornton, Drew Burlingame, R. L. Wingfield, and Chance
Cartwright.
The family received friends Tuesday from 6 to 8 p. m. at Taylor
Bros. Funeral Home. Memorials may be made to the Bay City Public
Library.
Gail will be greatly missed by all who love her.
Arrangements with Taylor Bros. Funeral Home. A00014B2002JL31
Bay City Tribune, July 31, 2002
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Virginia "Ginger"
Schmitz Burlingame
April 21, 1940 - December 28, 2023
Virginia Lee Schmitz Davis Burlingame, 83 of Bryan, TX, passed from
this earth on December 29, 2023 and went into the arms of her Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.
She was born on April 21, 1940 in Houston, TX to William J Schmitz,
Sr. and Ivey Mayfield Schmitz. Ginger attended St. Agnes High School
graduating in 1958. Later in life, she graduated with a Nursing
degree from El Centro College in Dallas TX before working as a Nurse
at Matagorda General Hospital and STP Nuclear Power Plant during
Outages. She retired from Wharton County Junior College where she
taught Vocational Nursing for 13 years and served as Department Head
for 2 years.
Ginger was preceded in death by her husband, George Burlingame,
parents, brother William J Schmitz, Jr., and is survived by her
children Tammy (John) Milliff, Charles Davis, Jr., Kenneth Davis,
Julie (Chris) Nugent; Grandchildren Jason (Lanie) Milliff, Brandon
Milliff, Grace (Ramsey) Fisher, Rebekah Davis, Charles Davis III,
Joel Davis, Olivia Davis, Brighid Nugent, and Erin Nugent; and Great
Grandchildren Luke Milliff, David Milliff, Andrew Milliff, and
Ellasyn Milliff.
Ginger was a faithful servant of God, actively attended church,
devoted her time and energy to prayer, volunteered at the Women’s
Pregnancy Center, participated in medical missions to Mexico, and
spent a year in Belize as a missionary.
Ginger lived a full life and had many interests, including sewing
and knitting, working in her flower beds, chasing redfish in west
Matagorda Bay, and spending time with her family.
Visitation will be at Calvary Baptist Church on January 5, 2024 at
1:00PM, with the funeral following at 2:00PM. Burial will be at
Cedarvale Cemetery. Pallbearers include Chris Nugent, John Milliff,
Jason Milliff, Brandon Milliff, Joel Davis, and Charles Davis, III.
Taylor Bros. Funeral Home
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