Dr. Paul Burkett, 67, of Terre Haute, IN, died from sudden complications of acute myeloid leukemia on January 7, 2024. He died at home, lovingly attended by his wife Suzanne and son Shaun.
Paul was born in Wyandotte, MI in 1956 to William Loyd Burkett and Dorothy Whalen Burkett.
Paul attended Wyandotte Roosevelt High School, Kalamazoo College, and received his PhD in Economics at Syracuse University. His teaching career began at Syracuse and took him to Auburn Correctional Facility in New York, the University of Miami, and Indiana State University, from which he retired in June of 2020.
Paul was preceded in death by his parents, his twin brother Patrick J. Burkett, and his youngest son Patrick M. Burkett. He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Suzanne (Zann) Carter, sons Ian (Lisa) Hussey and Shaun Hussey, daughter Molly Burkett, granddaughters Sophia Hussey and Raven Renn, and his brothers Philip (DeAnn) Burkett, Charles Burkett, and Richard (Karen) Burkett, as well as many loving nephews and nieces.
An intellectual and scholar, Paul published many books, journal articles, notes, reviews, and book chapters in his field. He felt his most important books are Marx and Nature: A Red And Green Perspective (1999) and Marxism and Ecological Economics (2006). He was passionate about his work, Socialism, the planet, and justice.
And Jazz! He began playing the saxophone when his son Patrick died, as a way to cope with deep grief, and proceeded to bring to his study of the instrument, of jazz, and of music in general, the same focus and fierce dedication he brought to his academic work. Calling himself PapaPatty in honor of Patrick, he played in many venues all around the area for almost two decades.
He asked only for a simple memorial gathering in late spring so that’s what we’ll do.
Any donations in his honor can be made to Doctors Without Borders.
