Hobart A. Burch Jr. ’53

Hobe, who held national leadership positions in religious, social welfare, and governmental agencies — he was an assistant to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare — as well as academia, died of heart failure June 16, 2012, in Marathon, Fla.

Born in Appleton, Wis., Hobe’s high school was Elmira (N.Y.) Free Academy, his discipline at Princeton was English, and his primary interests were Theatre Intime and the Westminster Fellowship. His roommates included Don Ardis, Herschel Phelps, Jim Prahl, Jack Thomson, and Tom Tobin. Interestingly he met his wife, the former Janet Barkley, on a long-distance blind date arranged by his Terrace clubmate Paul Brown.

His journey through life took him to Union Theological Seminary and Brandeis University, where he obtained a doctorate, and a five-year government assignment in Washington, D.C. He later served as a professor of social work and dean of the University of Nebraska School of Social Work.

We recognize with appreciation his service to his fellow man. Hobe was a doting and strong husband and father to wife Jan; sons David ’79 and Peter; and daughter Juanita Burch-Clay ’76, whose husband is Joseph A. Clay ’75. He also leaves 10 grandchildren and one great-grandchild.