Obituary of Eleanor “Polly” Storrs Burchfield

~ In Loving Memory ~ Dr. Eleanor “Polly” Storrs Burchfield May 3rd 1926 ~ May 20th 2018 Polly Burchfield of Indialantic, Florida, age 92, died on Sunday, May 20th after a brief illness. Polly was a remarkable woman, leading the way for women in the field of science, and doing so in her quiet and understated way. Polly was born in Cheshire, Connecticut, the oldest of 2 daughters. She attended college at the University of Connecticut and graduated in 1948 with a degree in botany. She had a great love of the outdoors, biking the Canadian Rockies as well as playing basketball for the UConn Huskies. After working for many years, she went back to school and obtained her master’s degree in 1958 at NYU. She met her future husband, Dr. H.P. Burchfield, while employed at Boyce Thompson Institute in Yonkers, NY. They were married and worked together very closely. Polly received a PhD in biochemistry in 1967 from the University of Texas and moved to Louisiana where she was involved with armadillo research. She was the key scientist that discovered the armadillo could be an animal model for leprosy research, a breakthrough in the field. Polly and Harry settled in Indialantic in 1978 where she continued her armadillo research for Florida Institute of Technology as a research professor of biology and director of FIT’s comparative mammalogy laboratory. She will be remembered for her accomplishments in the field of scientific research, her love of family, friends, travel, music, and animals, and her enduring honesty and ability to accept people for who they are, without judgment, and regardless of their background, race, faith, or nationality. Polly is survived by her children: Sarah Burchfield Briant of Gainesville, FL and Benjamin Hyde Burchfield of Indialantic, FL and her granddaughters Hannah and Phoebe Briant. A memorial service will be held at 10 A.M. on Saturday, June 2, 2018 at St. Sebastian’s by the Sea Episcopal Church in Melbourne Beach. Remembrances can be made to the Nature Conservancy (https://www.nature.org) and Heifer International (https://www.heifer.org).