May 13, 1939 - March 17, 2023
Published by The Mercury
Glenna F. Burckel, age 83, of Manhattan, died March 17, 2023 at the Good Shepherd Hospice House in Manhattan.
She was born on May 13, 1939 in New York City, the daughter of Earle and Katherine Ferris. She grew up in New York attending Quaker Schools and after graduating from high school she attended Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts. She later attended Boston University and earned her Master’s Degree.
On March 18, 1967, she was united in marriage to Robert Burckel in Eugene, Oregon. He survives at their home in Manhattan.
As reported by John Schwartz ‘57
Glenna enjoyed listening to classical music, and loved to read. She was very affluent in speaking Spanish, German, and French. Glenna enjoyed traveling and the time she and Robert lived overseas.
“Glenna Ferris Burckel, who was in the Class of 1957 from kindergarten through graduation, died March 17, 2023 in Manhattan, Kansas. At Friends, Glenna served on both the Stove and Oblivion student publications, was active in the Cercle Francais, and played the role of Mary in the Christmas pageant our senior year. After college at Mt. Holyoke (including a junior year in France), she taught French at St. Margaret’s Academy in Connecticut, then obtained a Master’s degree at Boston University and taught at the University of Oregon and at Kansas State University, where her husband, Robert Burckel, whom she married in 1967 and who survives her, had a distinguished career in mathematics and is now Emeritus. Bob’s career took them to Universities in Germany during two academic years (and Glenna became fluent in German as well), but they called Manhattan, Kansas their home for many years.”
John Schwartz ‘57