WATERTOWN, NY — Harvey J. Burnham, 82, husband of Ruth Burnham, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2022, at the Grand Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Rome, NY, where he had been a patient.
The funeral will be 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022, at the Reed & Benoit Funeral Home. Calling hours will begin at noon until the time of service. Spring burial will be in the Adams State Road Cemetery, Adams Center. The service will be streamed on the Reed & Benoit / Carpenter-Stoodley Facebook page. Family is requesting masks be worn to attend.
He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Ruth ; his sons, Robert (Ginny), Daniel (Marion) and David, all of Adams Center, NY, LeRoy (Joanne) and Mark (Mary) all of Watertown and Lynn (Dawn) of Lorraine; his grandchildren, Jonathan, Kenny, Erin, Chris, Jesse, Heather, Scott, Kiley, Whitney, Dustin; and 20 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his brothers, Paul, Mannsville, Guy “Stanley”, Georgia; his sisters Mary Durham, Virginia, Mae Durham, Hastings, Patricia Betts, Rock Stream, NY and Barbara Dukes, Tenn.; as well as many nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by a granddaughter Lisa Davies, two brothers Charles and George Burnham and a sister Ruth Zeller.
Harvey was born in Watertown January 12, 1939, a son of Guy and Annie (Johnson) Burnham. He was educated locally and worked on his family farm growing up as well as logging for Lloyd Killenbeck and worked for Berry Lumber in Adams. In 1959, Harvey went to work as a rural letter carrier with the Watertown Post Office, a position he would retire from in 1994 following 35 years of service.
Harvey was a member of the Jefferson County Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired. He was also a member of the Rural Letter Carrier Association, Gideons International, and was a caretaker at the church camp in Binghamton. He was a Trustee of the Adams State Road Cemetery, Member of the Pilgrim Holiness Church, Pierrepont Manor, and New York State Maple Producers Association.
Harvey was owner of Burnham’s Pure Maple Syrup. He enjoyed deer hunting, cutting and selling wood, selling maple products at local farmer’s markets. Harvey and Ruth’s home is the schoolhouse that Harvey attended as a boy.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Gideon’s International, PO Box 487, Watertown, NY 13601 of Benevolent Fund of Holiness Chapel, PO Box 795, Pierrepont Manor, NY 13674.
Condolences may be made online at www.reedbenoit.com.
Arrangements are with the Reed & Benoit Funeral Home.