William A. Burgess of Lincoln, Massachusetts, died on September 14. Beloved husband of the late Joyce Finkle Burgess. He is survived by his son, John A. Burgess and his wife Nancy Adams of Boston, Massachusetts, his daughter, Nora Burgess and her husband Robert Liburdy of Tiburon, California, his granddaughters Rachel Burgess and Eleanor Burgess, and his great-grandchildren, David and William Hostetter and Veronica Sedlet. William received his B.S. from Tufts University in 1945 as a graduate of the Naval Reserve Officer Training Center (NROTC) program and his M.S. in occupational health engineering from the Harvard University School of Arts and Sciences in 1951. He continued to serve in the U.S. Naval Reserve, was called to active duty for three years during the Korean War and ultimately retired as a Commander in the Allied Science Branch of the Medical Service Corps, USNR.
After a decade working in private industry, he returned to the Harvard School of Public Health as an Associate Professor for over 40 years. During this time, he published two text books on occupational health hazards that were widely used in industry. His book on respiratory protection and ventilation was also widely adopted to control health hazards in industry. He was recognized by his professional colleagues with a number of awards for his contributions to the field. In addition to these awards, he was given the 2013 Professor Emeritus Award of Merit by the Harvard School of Public Health and was named an Honorary Fire Chief by the City of Boston.
Along with the time he spent as devoted husband, father, grandfather and great-grandfather and as a teacher and mentor, he pursued a wide and ever-evolving range of interests, including furniture restoration, wooden boat building, lobstering, model railroading, drawing and sketching, and playing the harmonica.
Burial services will be private. Contributions in his memory may be made to the Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 3815 Washington Street, Suite 2, Boston, MA 02130. The Davis Funeral Home, 1 Lock St. has been palced in charge of arrangements.