From the in-house publication of the Joseph Horne Company,
Pittsburgh, Pa.
OBITUARY
WILLIAM HODGE BURCHFIELD
WILLIAM HODGE BURCHFIELD, member of the Board of Directors of
the Joseph Horne Co. passed away at his summer home in Chautauqua, New
York, Wednesday, August 19, 1959. He lived at 1310 Inverness Ave.,
Pittsburgh. Mr. Burchfield was born in Pittsburgh. He is of the second
generation of the founders of the store-his father, the late Major A.
P. Burchfield, having been an early partner of Joseph Home. His mother
was the late Sarah J. McWhinney.
Mr. Burchfield entered the business following graduation from Princeton
University in 1902. He became Store Manager in 1907, a Director in
1908, and a Divisional Merchandise Manager in 1909. In 1929 he became
Vice President in charge of Management, and in 1931 General Merchandise
Manager. In 1939 he succeeded his brother, the late A. H. Burchfield,
as President of Joseph Horne Co. which position he held until January,
1946. During his varied merchandising career he was active in the
National Retail Dry Goods Association, the Pennsylvania Retailers'
Association, the Retail Research Association, and the Associated
Merchandising
Corporation,
and
the
Pittsburgh
Retail
Merchants
Association.
Active in civic and benevolent enterprises in Pittsburgh, Mr.
Burchfield was a member of the Chamber of Commerce, was associated with
the Y. M.C.A. for many years-first with the East Liberty Branch, and
was a member of the Board of Directors of the Downtown Y.M.C.A. He was
active in the Pittsburgh Motor Club, was a Director of First Federal
Savings and Loan, was a member of the Duquesne Club, University Club,
Oakmont Country Club, the Sons of the American Revolution, the Ancient
Accepted Scottish Rite Masons and Syria Temple, the Royal Order of
Jesters, and the Lions Club. He was a member of the Harvard Yale
Princeton Club, and the Princeton Club of New York. He was a Trustee of
Grove City College, and established, a number of years ago, the W. H.
Burchfield Scholarship Fund at Princeton University. He was a member of
the Shadyside Presbyterian Church.
Mr. Burchfield is survived by his wife, Mrs. Helen Borland Burchfield,
and one son, Thomas Howell Burchfield, and three nephews, A. H.
Burchfield of Pittsburgh and George L. Craig, Jr. and Albert B. Craig
of Sewickley, and a niece, Mrs. Richard Wells of Chestnut Hills,
Philadelphia. Friends will be received at the Samson Funeral Home, 537
North Neville Street, and up to noon on Saturday. Services will be at
2:00 P. M. Saturday at the Shadyside Presbyterian Church Chapel.