Wilhelm "Willy" Burgdorfer

Dr. Wilhelm/Willy/Burgdorfer Ph.D., Honorary M.D.
Hamilton - Dr. Wilhelm (Willy) Burgdorfer, 89, of Hamilton passed away at the Marcus Daly Memorial Hospice on Monday, November 17, 2014.
He was born June 27, 1925 in Basel, Switzerland where he was raised, the son of Karl and Else Burgdorfer. He received his undergraduate and PhD degrees in Zoology, Parasitology and Bacteriology from the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical Institute in Basel. He served in the Swiss Army for three years.
Three days before Christmas in a snowstorm in 1951, he came to the Rocky Mountain Laboratory as a research fellow. In 1953, he married Dale See a Hamilton native and they had two children, William and Carl.
Willy became a US citizen in 1957 and joined the staff at RML as a medical entomologist. Most of his research was between animal and human disease agents and their transmitting arthropod vectors: particularly ticks, fleas and mosquitoes. He investigated relapsing fevers, plague, Tularemia, Colorado tick fever, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and other bacterial and viral diseases. He published over 225 scientific papers and traveled the world lecturing to and working with fellow scientists.
In 1981, he gained world-wide recognition for his discovery of a tick-borne Spirochete as the long-sought cause of Lyme disease for which he was honored with the agent being named Borrelia Burgdorferi.
Willy received many honors and awards during his career. Among them: Montana Governors Citation, 1985; Midwest Lyme Disease Assoc. for describing Borrelia Burgdorferi as the causative agent in Lyme Disease, 1989; Bristol Award from The Infectious Disease Society of America, 1989; Honorary M.D. degree University of Bern, Switzerland 1986; Honorary Dr. of Science Degree, Montana State University, 1990; Walter Reed Medal, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1990; Honorary M.D. Degree, University of Marseille, France, 1991; Honorary Doctor of Science Degree, Ohio State University, 1994; Distinguished Achievement Award, Society for Vector Ecology, Berkeley, 2000; Scientist Emeritus, NIH, 2003; Hoogstraal Medal, American Committee for Medical Entomology, 2010. The most prestigious was the Robert Koch Medal, Bonn, Germany, 1988.
He was a member of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, London, American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, American Society of Parasitologists, American Society of Microbiology and American Society of Rickettsiology (President in 1982).
Willy was well known in Hamilton for his community participation. He bowled and kept the records; played Jazz band on weekends; starred in Kiwanis melodramas; rode his bicycle around town announcing the Kiwanis Annual Pancake Breakfast with his bullhorn. He also served as President and Lieutenant Governor of Kiwanis. Willy began the city soccer program for youngsters and helped build the Hamilton Golf Course. He taught classes in German and French.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Karl and Else Burgdorfer and his wife Dale See Burgdorfer.
He is survived by his wife, Lois of Hamilton; two sons, Bill (Barbara) of Dillon, MT and Carl (Jill) of Eugene, OR; grandchildren, Alex and Madison Burgdorfer of Eugene; brother, Bob (Marily) of Basel, Switzerland; nephew Rolf and niece Sandra.
The family suggests memorials to St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 600 South 3rd St., Hamilton, MT 59840 or to a charity of the donor's choice.