Katherine Burgess Obituary

Kathrine Armintor Burgess, 78, passed away peacefully in her sleep March 4, 2025, of cancer. She was born under a Scorpio sun, November 22, 1946, in Houston, Texas, to Katherine Eunice Smith Armintor and Edward Daigre Armintor. Katherine's father died when she was two. She grew up both in Houston and in Fort Worth, Texas, with her grandparents, Clay Roscoe and Josephine Naomi Smith. Her family always called her Kandi. A 1964 graduate of Paschal High School, Fort Worth, she graduated in 1968 from Texas Tech University, Lubbock, with Bachelor's Degree in Secondary Education. Katherine spent a semester aboard the S.S. Ryndam. The World Campus Afloat visited ports on the Atlantic coasts of South America, Africa and Europe, and whetted her appetite for travel.

Upon graduation, Katherine joined the Foreign Service. On her first posting, Nairobi, Kenya, she sewed wild oats and met Dwight S. Burgess, a Foreign Service officer stationed in Tanzania. The couple married on December 28, 1972, in Fort Worth, Texas. Dwight brought two daughters into the marriage, Susan and Stephanie. The couple was posted to Tunisia, where their son, Dwight S. Burgess, Jr. (Sam) was born. During four more tours, the couple lived in Guinea, Zaire, Switzerland, and again in Tunisia. She often remarked that moving every two years gave her opportunities to reinvent herself.

The family moved to Dallas, Texas in 1985 after Dwight retired. They bought a travel franchise, which Katherine ran successfully for 13 years. She later said, "the school of business" taught her more than any educational institution. She was most proud of growing the business in an ethical and conscientious manner. She participated in Toastmaster's International and was the first woman president of Kiwanis Club.

While running the travel agency, Katherine began graduate studies in the Humanities at the University of Texas, Dallas. She earned a Master's Degree in 2000, and "having nothing better to do at the time," entered the doctoral program at UT/D. She also helped Dwight recuperate from paralysis caused by Guillain-Barre' Syndrome.

In 2004 the couple built a home in Durango, Colorado, where Katherine lived until her death. She earned her PhD in 2006 after completing her dissertation, The Binding Power of Promises. For several years she taught various Humanities subjects at Southwest Community College and at Fort Lewis College. She fed her passion for travel by working from home as a travel agent and traveling herself. Over her lifetime Katherine visited 64 countries.

Katherine's interests were eclectic, as evidenced by her interdisciplinary studies in the Humanities. She read widely, wanted to know everything, but believed John Wooden, "It's what you learn after you know it all that counts." She could be a contrarian and regularly played the devil's advocate. She made many friends in Durango and enjoyed skiing and hiking. She proudly played Isis in the Durango Snowdown Follies. An active participant at the Unitarian Universalist Church, she often occupied the pulpit but also enjoyed singing in the choir at St. Mark's Episcopal Church. She was an active member and President of the Durango Branch of the American Association of University Women (AAUW), a proud graduate of Leadership La Plata, and a regular speaker in the FLC Life-long Learning Series. Katherine was a poet, had a wry sense of humor, liked an ice cube in her chardonnay, and enjoyed playing Mahjong and caring for Dante, her Bichon. She is survived by her husband, Dwight, her son, Sam, daughter-in-law Jill Wilson, granddaughter, Cecelia (Cece) Katherine Wilson, sister Tina Armintor MacDonald, and stepdaughters Susan Burgess and Stephanie Burgess Tomlinson. Katherine requested that any donations be made to the AAUW Durango Scholarship Fund. A memorial service followed by a reception will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, March 29, 2025, at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durango, 419 San Juan Drive.