Elsie "Mitzi" Beth Burkhart

Born in Washington, D.C. on January 18, 1926, Elsie Beth “Mitzi” Burkhart was the only child of Elsie Roush and Jay Hovey. She was affectionately nicknamed “Mitzi” by her father. In 1939, Mitzi’s family moved to Evanston, Illinois when her father, a federal IRS employee, was assigned to the Chicago office. Throughout high school Mitzi was active in Girl Scouts and YWCA. Mitzi attended college at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1947, Mitzi moved back to the Chicago area, where she was employed as a job analyst at the Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co. department store.

After a year of living in downtown Chicago with a roommate, Mitzi met her future husband, James “Jim” Burkhart. Mitzi and Jim met at a community social club meeting of the First Methodist church in Evanston and quickly bonded. Like Mitzi, Jim was an only child of Midwestern roots. The couple married on June 10, 1949, at the Evanston Methodist church.

Mitzi followed Jim in support of his career as an engineer in the paper industry. In 1951 the couple moved to Pryor, Oklahoma, where they started their family. Mitzi gave birth to three sons – Russell, Roger and Scott. In Oklahoma, the Burkhart clan enjoyed outdoor hiking and sailing in sailboats built by Jim with sails handsewn by Mitzi. In 1967 the family moved to Beloit, Wisconsin where Jim began a new job. Jim changed jobs again in 1970 and the family put down new roots in Monroe, Ohio. In Ohio, Mitzi worked as a substitute teacher, sold encyclopedias, and organized events for the local historical society. She joined Jim on his work-related travel to Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Great Britain.

After Jim’s retirement in 1980, the couple began regular bicycling and traveled extensively. The couple’s journeys in a small trailer built by Jim took them to all four corners of the U.S. and both ends of Canada. Canadian trips included Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, Vancouver, British Columbia and Banff, Alberta. U.S. destinations included Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, Beaufort, South Carolina, Key West, Big Bend, Texas, Tucson, Arizona, San Diego and Seattle. Cycling became a competitive sport for Jim and Mitzi when they both raced in the National Senior Olympics. Mitzi won gold, silver and bronze medals in two different years.

In 1989, Jim and Mitzi left Ohio behind and moved into a new home they had custom-built in Parachute/Battlement Mesa, Colorado. They fell in love with the weather, open spaces and magnificent scenery of western Colorado. Jim and Mitzi were avid bicyclists, hikers, cross-country skiers – and square dancers. The couple continued to vacation throughout the U.S. and took dream trips to Hawaii, New Zealand and Australia. For many years Mitzi volunteered with the public library and other groups in Parachute and contributed as a writer and photographer with the local newspaper.

The couple celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary in 2009 in Vail, Colorado. After Jim’s passing of cancer at age 90 in 2010, Mitzi continued to live at their home in Battlement Mesa. In 2016, she moved to the nearby Mesa Vista assisted living residence. Five years later she moved to the Colorado Veterans Community Living Center in Rifle, Co. After two strokes in quick succession, Mitzi passed on September 21, 2022 at age 96. Mitzi’s ashes were placed with her husband Jim’s in an outdoor columbarium at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Western Colorado in Grand Junction. Survivors include sons Russell, Roger and Scott, four grandchildren (Russell: Blake and Maegan, and Scott: Candice Bates and Daniel) and one great-grandson, James Bates. A memorial service for Mitzi will be held at 10:00 am Central Time on November 19, 2022 at All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.MartinMortuary.com for the Burkhart family.