Dr. Linda (Brookover) Bourque

Dr. Linda Brookover Bourque, age 77, of Venice, California, died on March 20, 2019.  She grew up in East Lansing, Michigan, daughter of Wilbur and Edna Brookover.  A 1959 graduate of East Lansing High School, she received a BA from Indiana University and an MA and PhD from Duke University.  Linda was Professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, School of Public Health, UCLA.  She spent 47 years on the faculty at UCLA.  For many years she also played cello in the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony Orchestra and in the Santa Monica Symphony, where she was also on the Board of Directors.  

Linda is survived by her brother George and his wife Patricia, of East Lansing and their children Eliza and Sam, by brother Tom of Bloomfield Hills and his son Jacob, and by many thousands of valued students, colleagues and friends.  Linda was a unique and special individual who will be deeply missed by all of those who had the great fortune of having known her.

Dr. Bourque worked extensively in disaster and emergency preparedness. At UCLA, she co-led the launch of the Center for Public Health and Disasters, one of the first academic centers of its kind in the nation.  Linda’s publications in disaster and emergency preparedness include assessments she led of preparedness efforts, community responses and hazard mitigation efforts in the wake of the Northridge, Loma Prieta and Whittier Narrows earthquakes. 

Dr. Bourque authored and co-authored numerous scientific articles and books about processing data and conducting surveys in the context of public health, ophthalmic clinical trials, intentional and unintentional injury, and community perceptions of and responses to disasters.  Her work to address rape and sexual violence includes the noted book she authored in 1989, Defining Rape.

 There will be no funeral services.  Private burial will be at a later date near the family farm in Bippus, Indiana.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Santa Monica Symphony Association, P.O. Box 3101, Santa Monica, California 90408-3101 or to the East Lansing Educational Foundation, 501 Burcham Drive, East Lansing, Michigan 48823.

McElhaney-Hart Funeral Home, 715 N. Jefferson Street, Huntington, IN, is in charge of local arrangements. Online condolences to www.mcelhaneyhartfuneralhome.com

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