Heather Southwick

Heather Milne Southwick (nee Beck) died peacefully in her home on April 12, 2024 with family members. She was born in Youngstown, Ohio on October 12, 1929, less than 3 weeks before the stock market crash. Both the community of Youngstown and her own family were hit hard by the Depression; at a young age, she decided to become a social worker, and she never wavered from that passion. She graduated from Rayen High School in Youngstown and attended The College of Wooster, in Wooster, Ohio, where she met her husband of 63 years, Charles Henry Southwick, the first week of freshman year. She graduated from the College of Wooster in 1951 with a BA in sociology and then enrolled at the University of Wisconsin's School of Social Work. On July 12, 1952, Heather and Charles married. In 1953, Heather graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a master's degree in social work and they moved to Athens, Ohio. While Charles taught at Ohio University, Heather was a social worker in rural southern Ohio, part of Appalachia. Throughout their long marriage, Heather and Charles shared a love of their family, community service, travel, and wildlife conservation. In 1954, Heather accompanied Charles on a Fulbright Fellowship to Oxford University in England. In 1959, before jet travel, when Charles was awarded a second Fulbright fellowship to work in primatology at Aligarh Muslim University in India, Heather displayed her spunky sense of adventure when she traveled by herself and her toddler son, Steven, from New York to India, a five-day trip in a PanAmerican propeller plane. Throughout the decades, Charles held teaching and research positions in Clinton, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; and Boulder, Colorado, and he conducted research work in India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and China, accompanied by Heather. During the 36 years that Charles and Heather lived in Boulder Colorado, Heather was active at St Andrews Presbyterian church, the Boulder library, the Boulder Valley Humane Society, and Volunteer Connection, an organization that matched volunteers with different organizations in Boulder. In 2009, Heather was recognized by the American Society of Primatologists for 50 years of her support of work with primates. After the death of Charles, Heather moved to New York in 2016 to be close to her daughter, Karen. Heather is survived by 2 children, 7 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren.

Heather's memorial service will be on Saturday, June 15, 2024 at Grace Episcopal Church, 33 Church Street, White Plains, NY 10601 at 11 am.

Heather's graveside service will be on Monday, August 19, 2024 at Green Mountain Cemetery, 290 20th Street, Boulder, CO, 80302 at 11 am

Guests are encouraged to wear bright colors to the memorial services according to Heather's wishes.

Heather loved flowers; below is a list of Heather's favorite charities:

• Heather Milne Southwick scholarship at the University of Wisconsin School of Social Work. Gifts can be made online at https://secure.supportuw.org/give/ in the "find your cause box" add Heather Milne Southwick Fund # 132540021 or by sending a check made out to the Heather Milne Southwick Fund # 132540021 to UW Foundation, U.S. Bank Lockbox, Box 78807, Milwaukee, WI 53278-0807

• Lifting Up Westchester: https://www.liftingupwestchester.org/donate

• Humane Society of Boulder Valley: https://give.boulderhumane.org/give/67294/#!/donation/checkout?c_src=HSBV-Website-Homepage&c_src2=Red-Heart-Donation-Button