Dr. Andrew Burghardt

We were saddened by the loss late last year of our good friend and Men’s Fellowship member Dr. Andrew Burghardt. He was a wonderful man, loving father and husband. We enjoyed his company and faith insight during our meetings.

Andrew was born in New York City on April 5, 1924, the son of Hungarian immigrants Anthony Burghardt and Mary Weiss. He served in the US Army in the Philippines in World War II, taking part in the invasion of Luzon. He received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard University, and his Masters and Ph.D. in geography from the University of Wisconsin (Madison). He taught at Stanford University prior to his appointment at McMaster in 1961. He was a visiting professor at the universities of Minnesota, Victoria, Guelph, and the Free University of Berlin. He specialized in political and historical geography, was a councilor of the Canadian Association of Geographers, and was awarded an Austrian medal of honour for his writings on Burgenland. Locally, he served with the County Planning Board, the Urban Renewal Committee, Commissions on Regional Government, and CAPIC. He was a member of the Bach-Elgar choir, Hamilton Right-to-Life, the Serra Club, and the St. Augustine's parish council. After retiring in 1989, he wrote the history of his McMaster geography department, and served as archivist and historian, as well as lector and teacher in the RCIA program at St. Augustine's in Dundas. He also wrote the histories of St. Augustine's and the McMaster Newman Alumni Association.

Andrew was a man of deep faith and has found an eternal home with the Lord.

Here is a prayer that Andrew wrote and shared with our group:

Lord, Make me your living monstrance. Grant that wherever I may be, Your light and life may shine into this world, which needs You so much.

Even if those who see me, cannot see You within me, please grant that Your Light and Grace will shine out to them, simply because I am there and You are in me.

David Weber