Nathaniel Burgwyn

Nathaniel Thomas Ridley Burgwyn, a fifty-year resident of Richmond, passed away on Friday, March 3, 2006. Born October 12, 1925, in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina, Nat was the son of Emily Roper and George Pollok Burgwyn, Jr., of Jackson, North Carolina. After his father?s death in 1930, his mother moved back to her hometown of Petersburg, Virginia, where Nat graduated from Petersburg High School in 1943. During World War II, he served in the 393rd Bombardment Squadron of the 509th Composite Group, U.S. Army Air Corps as a radar observer and gunner with the crew of the B-29, ?Full House.? Stationed on Tinian Island in the South Pacific, he and his crew flew missions over Japan and played supporting roles in the atomic bomb missions over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was discharged from the Air Corps in 1946, with the rank of Sergeant. After the war, Nat attended the University of Virginia, and graduated in1950 with a BA in history. In February of the same year, he married Margot Couzens Yaw of Detroit, Michigan. After a brief employment with Roper and Company in Petersburg, Nat worked for Texaco in Parkersburg, West Virginia. For most of his twenty-five-year career in the savings and loan business, Nat was employed by Richmond Federal Savings & Loan, where he was a senior vice president. After his retirement in 1984, Nat founded ?Nat T. R. Burgwyn, Builder,? and built homes in Hanover County. An avid sportsman and celebrated fly fisherman and fly-tyer, Nat was a member of numerous sporting clubs and conservation organizations. He played leadership roles in many of these organizations, including The Federation of Fly Fishers, the Virginia Anglers Club, Trout Unlimited, the Coastal Conservation Association, and the Cohoke Club. He was a co-founder and past president of Fly Fishers of Virginia, as well as the Virginia Chapter of the Brotherhood of the Junglecock, an organization dedicated to introducing youngsters to fly fishing and conservation. Nat was predeceased by his sister, Emily Burgwyn Sneed; brothers George Pollok Burgwyn, III, and Bartlett Roper Burgwyn; and a twin brother, Dr. Collinson P. E. Burgwyn. A generous family man and provider, Nat is survived by his loving wife of 56 years, Margot Yaw Burgwyn; their son George Pollock Burgwyn, IV, and his wife Eileen; their daughter Molly Burgwyn Shaver and her husband Charles; their daughter Emily Roper Burgwyn and her partner Carla Garber; and their son, John Fanning Burgwyn, and his wife Ellen. Nat is survived by three grandsons, Thomas Joseph Grubbs Jr., Nathaniel T. R. Burgwyn, II, and William Clayton Andrew Burgwyn. He is also survived by his sister-in-law, Mary Barrow Burgwyn of Jackson, North Carolina. The family will receive friends at the J. T. Morriss & Son Funeral Home in Chester, Virginia, on Route 10 from 7:00-8:30 p.m., on Tuesday, March 7. A graveside service will be held at the Church of the Savior in Jackson, North Carolina, at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, March 8. The family is grateful for the compassionate care Nat received at Cedarfield. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in memory of Nathaniel Thomas Ridley Burgwyn to the Church of the Savior, Jackson, North Carolina, 27845. condolences may be registered at www.jtmorriss.com