Harriet Lapp Burkholder of Goshen dies

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GOSHEN, Ind.—Harriet Lapp Burkholder, a longtime community leader and the wife of former Goshen College president J. Lawrence Burkholder, died Sept. 6 in Goshen after a long illness.

Burkholder, 92, was a community leader, a Sunday school teacher, a peace activist, a spokesperson for harmonious international relations and a volunteer who spent many decades supporting Goshen College. A 1937 graduate of Goshen, Burkholder was a key supporter of and fund-raiser for the college during her husband’s presidency from 1971 to 1984. She hosted many receptions for students, faculty, community members and donors, and along with Naomi Hunsberger and Beth Rieth helped establish the college’s popular Afternoon Sabbatical education program for the community.

Burkholder married J. Lawrence in 1939, and they had four children: Myrna Burkholder (Goshen), Howard Burkholder (Boston), Janet Friesen (Flint, Mich.), and Gerald Burkholder (deceased in 1981); and eventually two grandchildren: Erica Friesen (Chicago) and Eliot Friesen (Cambridge, Mass.).

Harriet and J. Lawrence Burkholder were awarded the college’s “Culture for Service” award in 1990.

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