Claude Hoke Burrow

Claude (Todd) Hoke Burrow 

October 05, 1947 to May 30th, 2016

Todd Burrow passed away on Saturday, May 30th after a long illness. He was born in Toledo, Ohio to parents Dr. Hollis and Mrs. Patrica Burrow. He joined older siblings Maida and William, and younger brother Richard, who followed two years later.

The family moved to Greenville, Mississippi when Hollis joined the medical staff at the local hospital as a pathologist. Todd attended Greenville High School where he participated in varsity basketball and varsity tennis. He was a member of the Thespian Society, Honor society, and worked on the school newspaper. In addition to his high school athletic activities, he enjoyed water skiing with his family on the Oxbow lakes formed by the meandering Mississippi River. During a couple of summer vacations in high school, he traveled to Walla Walla, Washington to pick peas for the Green Giant Pea Company. He also spent time in the local cotton fields picking cotton and said how really hard that job was to do. After graduating from high school in 1965, he enrolled at Vanderbilt University majoring in biology. Todd was a freshman cheerleader, a member of the Conservative Club, and was house manager for his fraternity, K.A. While at Vanderbilt he qualified for his pilot's license and found himself occasionally piloting the university president to various places. After graduating in 1969 he attended the University of Mississippi School of Medicine in Jackson, Mississippi, receiving his M.D. in 1973.

Todd then started at the Texas Southwestern Medical School, Parkland Hospital Dallas, Texas doing a straight medicine internship - thinking that the knowledge he gained would make him a better surgeon.

From 1974 to 1978 he trained as a general surgery resident. It was at this time that he met his future wife, Linda who was a registered nurse working in the Parkland Hospital emergency room. They married in May, 1978 in a beautiful chapel in Dallas with a few witnesses, followed by a big celebration in their home two weeks later. Todd continued his medical education as a resident in Plastic Surgery at the University of Tennessee in Memphis, Tennessee completing the program in 1980.

After investigating various locations, all below the Mason Dixon Line, Todd and Linda decided to join Dr. Alan Stormo's practice in Boulder, Colorado. They traveled to Colorado with their 6 week old son, Scott. Renting a temporary home in Heatherwood, Linda would drive around with two goals in mind - calming the very colicky Scott, and to find a home closer to the hospital to make those 1 a.m. drives to the emergency room take less time. As Todd's practice grew, so did his family. Grant was born on May 26, 1982, and Marshall was born on July 17, 1984. When the boys were in school, Linda began working in the office with Dr. Stormo and Todd. Traveling around the west became a joy, with trips to neighboring states to see the attractions and often pitching a tent in a campground. Mesa Verde was one of the family's favorite spots. Visiting Hollis and Pat in Greenville allowed Todd to touch base with many of his high school buddies, and the kids loved swimming in their grandparent's huge swimming pool.

After Todd's sister and her husband moved to Grand Junction to open their medical practices, Todd's parents soon followed buying a home next to Maida. Trips to Grand Junction were frequent, and if it was the winter season, all would ski at Powderhorn Mountain Resort. As the boys grew, skiing became a passion, but not so much with their father. Todd was more of a golfing kind of guy and would meet at the Boulder Country Club every Saturday and Sunday mornings, and tee off at 7:00 a.m. with his golf buddies Charley Jones, Scott St. Claire and Bill Schmitz. This was their routine for decades, and the older they got, the longer their respective naps were in the afternoon.

Eventually, Todd moved and set up a private practice in Goose Creek Plaza, where he and Linda worked until retiring in 2014. Not being quite ready to give it up all together, he started to work as a surgical assistant in the OR for anyone who needed him. Once a surgeon, always a surgeon. Todd, and many others from the medical and surgical staff of Boulder Community Hospital, went on medical mission trips to Mante Mexico, where the doctors and nurses provided care that the people of the area would not have had otherwise. The days were long, but the rewards it brought to them all was well worth their efforts. Todd also joined Rotoplast in 2001 for a medical mission to Columbia.

His board certifications included the American Board of Surgery and the American Board of Plastic Surgery. His many society memberships included the Fellow American Collete of Surgeons, the American Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, the Rocky Mountain Association of Plastic Surgeons, the Colorado State Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Alpha Omega Alpha Honorary Medical Society, Colorado Medical Society, the Parkland Surgical Society, and the Boulder Colorado Medical Society.

Academic appointments included Clinical Instructor of Surgery, University of Colorado Health and Science Center, Denver, and President of the Colorado Society of Plastic Surgeons for a two year term, 1998-1999.

Todd was proceeded in death by both parents, his brother Richard, and his son Marshall. He is survived by his wife, Linda, their son Scott and his wife Kiri and grandchildren Graham and Nina, and his son Grant and wife Jenny and grandchildren Olivia and Landon. Maida still lives in Grand Junction with husband Jerry, and William (Bill) and his wife LaFon still live in Mississippi along with multiple nieces, nephews, cousins, grandnephews and grandnieces.

It has been difficult for me to sum up the life of my husband who was such an extraordinarily intelligent, kind, calm and caring person who should have had much more time to spend on this earth. He was a true southern gentleman.

I know I speak for the entire family when I say how much he will be missed, but we are all grateful that he is no longer suffering and in pain. He deserved better.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Flatiron Community Church, at 335 W. South Boulder Road, on July 13, 9:30 a.m. with reception to follow at the church. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Wild Life Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.