Patricia Hill Burnett - Artist, Feminist and, Ironically, Glamour Queen - Dies in Bloomfield Hills

Patricia Hill Burnett with a portrait she painted of the late British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. (Photo via Creative Commons)

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Acclaimed artist, women’s rights advocate and seductive socialite Patricia Hill Burnett, 94, died Monday at her home in Bloomfield Hills.

Burnett – a realist painter whose brush had captured the essence of some of the most famous women in the 20th century, including Betty Ford, Indira Gandhi, Margaret Thatcher, Betty Friedan, Joyce Carol Oates and, most recently, Ruth Bader Ginsburg – was painting up until six months ago and flirting with doctors and nurses until her death, her daughter, Terrill Hill Burnett, told the Detroit Free Press.

Burnett was born in Brooklyn in 1920, but moved to Detroit when her mother married a doctor at Henry Ford Hospital.

A spokesman for Gov. Rick Snyder called Burnett “a pioneering activist” who was “committed to equality and breaking barriers at both the state and national levels.”

Crowned Miss Michigan and first-runner up in the Miss America pageant in 1942, Burnett wasn’t a typical beauty queen. A feminist and advocate for women’s rights internationally, she waged a fierce fight to become the first female to win a full membership in Detroit’s Scarab Club, at the time an all-male enclave for artists.

Their efforts to root her out included harassing her by jiggling the handle as she used the restroom, but within four months of Burnett opening her studio in 1962 – which she used for the next 25 years – they presented her with a gold restroom key as a token of their respect and affection.

“Patricia was a giant in so many ways – as a woman, a feminist and a glamour queen, too,” Michelle Perron, a family friend who directs the Center Galleries at the College for Creative Studies, told The Detroit News. “The irony there is beautiful.”

Burnett won both sexes over with her charm, said Treena Ericson, a friend and gallery director for the Scarab Club.

“Men would be tongue-tied around her and so smitten with her, and women loved her as much as men did,” Ericson said. “She was so gracious and charming.”

She helped women integrate other institutions as well. Burnett “led the change, if that’s the right word, when the Detroit Athletic Club was an all-male bastion,” said Ruth Holmes, a friend and president of the International Women’s Forum Michigan, another of Burnett’s projects.

“She rallied a group of women who were not going to go through the back door any longer. The club must have been surprised, because they changed their rules,” Holmes said.

NOW’s International Feminist of the Year

Burnett founded Michigan’s National Organization for Women chapter and held leadership positions at the state, national and international levels. In 1973 she organized NOW’s first international feminist conference, which attracted an all-star list that included John Lennon and Yoko Ono. She was named NOW’s “feminist of the year” in 1974, and was inducted into the Michigan Women’s Historical Center & Hall of Fame in 1987.

“She was that amazing blend of feminist, artist and socialite,” her daughter Hillary Burnett said, adding that she took more pride in her selection as “Miss Congeniality” than as first runner-up in the Miss America pageant.

“She was amazingly joyous, full of adventure and loved parties and had a huge group of friends who were truly devoted to her,” Terrill Hill Burnett said.

A private funeral service is planned. Visitation will be held from 5-8 p.m. Jan. 12 at A.J. Desmond & Sons, 32515 Woodward Ave., Royal Oak.

Besides her daughters, she is survived by sons William Lange and Dr. Harry Burnett III, as well as eight grandchildren. Her third husband, Robert Siler, died in 2013.

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