STONINGTON – Edgar Thurlow Pitts, 87, died Saturday, April 28, 2007, at a Blue Hill health care facility. He was born Sept. 5, 1919, in Rockport, the son and only child of George Edgar and Mildred (Thurlow) Pitts. He graduated from Stonington High School in 1936; the University of Maine in 1942, with a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics, ranking first in his class with a GPA of 4.0, that was a record that stood for almost 30 years; and was a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society; U.S. Naval Academy Post Graduate School in 1943, as a qualified weather analyst and forecaster for air-sea operations. He was a U.S. veteran serving in the Navy during World War II with his duties including two years in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, where he became head of weather services in Dutch Harbor sector and a joint Army/Navy weather center in the Western Aleutians. His final assignment was at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Squantum, Mass. He was honorably discharged from the Navy with a rank of lieutenant, U.S. Navy Reserve. Mr. Pitts was the former principal of Stonington High School from 1946 to 1953; and principal of Ellsworth High School from 1953 to 1970; principal of MSAD 73 high dchool from 1970 to 1973. During those years he was elected president of several local and regional professional organizations and chaired various committees of the Maine Teachers and State Principals Association. He became president of the Maine Teachers Association in 1962. In semi-retirement after 1973, he became a private teacher of mathematics; president of Hancock County Retired Teachers Association; chaired committees for production of special commemorative books on Deer Isle and Stonington; president of Deer Isle-Stonington Historical Society; commander of the Rodney Stinson Post, American Legion; wrote and published via Greenfell Reading Center, a well-received book on the critical 20th Century years 1936-1945, “Long Ago and Far Away.” He was listed as Who’s Who in America, in 2005. He was predeceased by his wife of 50 years, the former Elizabeth Knowlton of North Deer Isle. Family members include a son, Nathan and his wife, Ellen; grandsons, Charles, Benjamin, Jeremiah and Vincent Pitts; granddaughter, Beth McKay; great-grandchildren, Lindsay Pitts, Autumn Sands, Joseph Pitts, Timothy Pitts, Allison, Caroline and Katherine Turner; a cousin, Callie Parker; and many treasured friends. Private graveside services will be held at the convenience of the family at Mount Adams, Cemetery, Deer Isle. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Oceanville Baptist Church, Stonington, ME 04681 or to Ellsworth High School Alumni Association, care of Malen Shu, Superintendents Office, P.O. Box 4906, Ellsworth, ME 04605 or to Deer Isle – Stonington High School Alumni Association, care of Eliza Spencer, 251 North Deer Isle Road, Deer Isle, ME 04627. Letters of condolences may be provided to the family of Edgar Thurlow Pitts, P.O. Box 14, Stonington, ME 04681. Arrange-ments are by Bragdon-Kelley-Campbell Funeral Home, Stonington. For online condolences, please visit www.Legacy.com
EDGAR THURLOW PITTS
