Percy Jewett Burrell - Death & Posthumous Honors

Death & Posthumous Honors

Burrell died in poverty, without descendants or other immediate family, at the age of 87 in 1964, and was buried in what would for many years be an unmarked grave in Watertown, Massachusetts, on the outskirts of Boston.

Throughout most of the twentieth century, his role in the early development of the philosophies of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity was largely sidelined in fraternity publications and in the fraternity's ongoing philosophical dialogue. However, as the centennial of the fraternity approached in 1998, there was a revival of interest in the fraternity's original philosophies and values, much of which originated with Burrell as evidenced by his writings. After a long and complicated search by fraternity officials in the late 1990s, his grave was located and a fund-raising effort was undertaken by the fraternity's national historian to provide a monument for Burrell's burial site. The monument was dedicated by national fraternity leaders in a graveside ceremony on the morning of Saturday, October 2, 2004, as part of the fraternity's annual Founders Day observance. On the stone is inscribed the phrase Hart used to describe Burrell: "Master Pageant Master."

Burrell has also been memorialized through the Burrell Award for Province Interaction, presented to fraternity chapters in the state of Virginia.

In addition, The Percy is a traveling wooden trophy which one fraternity chapter retrieves from another chapter from time to time. The trophy is named in honor of Burrell because of his influence in the early expansion of the fraternity. It was established in February 1996 by the fraternity's Province 28 (made up of chapters in northern and central Indiana). Since then, it has traveled to over forty campuses throughout the nation. As of February 2013, the Percy is now in the possession of Province 2, after it was retrieved from southern California.