Margaret Ruth Burgess

May 22, 1936 – March 3, 2025

Marge Burgess, 88, passed away March 3, 2025 at St. Anthony’s Hospital after residing in Wheat Ridge and Lakewood for most of her adult life. This is an account of her life in her own words.

Margaret Ruth Burgess (Marge) was born in Fall River, Massachusetts and grew up in a suburb, Somerset, population 10,000. Somerset was separated from the city by the Taunton River which had various impacts on Marge and her peers. Swimming lessons by the Red Cross enabled those who were interested to become proficient swimmers and divers. (Marge honed her early reading skills by reading the daily high tide times in the paper.) She was grateful for that early experience in later years when swimming became a great physical conditioner as well as a stress reliever.

Her grandparents all came from Ireland. Growing up with her dad’s mother and listening to the Irish “and was it very dear, Margaret?” was a special treat. She also grew up with her sister Helen, two years younger, and various aunts and uncles most of whom worked for the New England Tel & Tel. Auntie Ag was a very special person, always there to lend a hand and who provided numerous outings, etc.

Schooling occurred in the nifty fifties. After graduating with seventy-five high school classmates, Marge decided to pursue the field of nursing. Having enjoyed academics, she wanted to continue some of this along with the traditional three years of “nurses training”. Collegiate nursing programs were beginning to evolve. After a fifteen minute “what are your plans” conference with the principal she was guided to his alma mater of Fitchburg State Teachers College which was affiliated with a nursing program in the same community. This educational chapter provided outstanding experiences with specialty affiliations for the students in New York, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Connecticut, and a Massachusetts state psychiatric hospital. Most of these were for three months, a far cry from current practices of four weeks with maybe two or three days per week. As often happens, life-long friendships are made in school and in later years renewed friendships have provided a bond of support and enjoyment.

After graduating with a Bachelor’s in Education as well as an RN diploma, a good friend (De Sou) and Marge decided to explore job opportunities in the big city of Boston. They were both hired at Massachusetts General Hospital, a nationally famous medical center. Marge was able to fill a position on a pediatric unit. (After filling in on the tonsil ward during her senior year of training she knew kids would be her focus.) In Boston she obtained two years of wonderful experience with children from infants to teens, all with interesting textbook conditions. Of course she also took advantage of the plays, museums and music. At this time, Marge’s cousin Bud, his wife Merle and fourteen-month old son Michael had moved to Denver. Marge the adventurer took advantage of the opportunity and took a flight to the big west for a visit. Her cousins were in love with Colorado and generously toured her all over the state from Rocky Mountain National Park to Ouray, etc. on the western slope. It didn’t take long for Marge to explore the nursing journals for job opportunities in Denver and “voila”, job openings at Denver Children's Hospital. And so – in the fall of 1961 she drove her 1954 Chevy across the country accompanied by her mother, aunt and a family friend, also a driver.

And so began forty-five years of a pediatric nursing career. This included clinical teaching, lots of hospital experience, thirteen years with the Denver neighborhood health clinics, school nursing, and finally home care. The latter in a medical foster home with a wonderful three-year-old medically fragile child proved to be one of her most meaningful and educational experiences.

Marge also had two opportunities to work with Project Hope, an international teach/sharing organization. In 1967 she spent ten months on the Ship Hope in the port of Cartagena, Colombia. This provided two “life changing” experiences, along with experiencing the poverty as well as the medical conditions in this third world area. One was a concerted effort to study and learn Spanish which proved to be utilized in various situations on an ongoing basis. The second happening was, with the assistance of Project Hope, to bring home a blond towhead little boy, Edgar, whom her sister and her husband adopted. Edgar now remains a fantastic source of support and friendship and Marge has been extremely proud of what a wonderful person this former little Colombian boy has become.

The second foreign professional adventure was again with Project Hope in Armenia in 1990. Armenia had experienced a major earthquake in 1988. The medical field did not include pediatric rehabilitation and it was an ideal time for Project Hope to extend their teaching program to the local medical people who were interested in establishing this field. The program was quite successful and some of the Armenian medical people spend several months in the U.S. to gain firsthand knowledge of what they were trying to convey. Again, lifelong friendships were made.

Over the years Marge has had ongoing friendships with various children, some of whom were patients. These have included three young men with cerebral palsy who she cared for at Children's Hospital when they were very young. Most of her close friends have heard of Eric who she followed to various locations in New Mexico. Wes in Colorado and Juan in South Dakota remain high on her list, as does Cesar in Denver whom she met when he weighed one half pound while volunteering at Childrens.

Seeming to have a penchant for physical activity, the Colorado Mountain Club has provided many years of wonderful outdoor adventures. Loads of appreciation has been felt for all of the dedicated leaders who provided hiking trips, annual camping adventures all over Colorado as well as desert and international trips. She has ridden a bike for many years (always in high 3rd gear) which has kept her strong enough to do some challenging hikes. Winter sports of downhill and x-country skiing and snowshoeing maintained year-round conditioning.

Marge’s Catholic religion has always been constant and meaningful. She especially appreciated being able to attend daily Mass at St. Dominic’s chapel, where the Dominican homilie as well as the people were always inspiring.

In summary, Marge has been grateful for a truly wonderful life and for the many friends and family that have contributed to this.