Laurence L. Fitchett, 79
On Monday, May 9, 2022, Laurence L. Fitchett passed away after a protracted illness. Larry was born on June 1. 1942 in Milford, Delaware to Dr. Laurence and Eleanor Fitchett.
Larry's very early childhood was marked by the absence of his father for several years. His father was serving as a medical officer just behind the front lines of WWII.
In 1960, Larry graduated from St Andrews School, a private boarding school, in Middletown, Delaware where he was active on the crew and football teams and played in the Blue-Gold All State football game his senior year. He then graduated from the University of Delaware in 1964 with a B.S. degree in psychology. His college summers were spent as a restaurant maitre d in Ocean City, Maryland. After graduation, Larry enjoyed being a driver for, and getting to know, US Representative Bill Roth.
After college, Larry spent 2 years in the US Army, rising to the rank of captain. He served in France, assisting with the withdrawal of troops from that country.
Larry then began a long career in the Delaware court system, initially as a pre-trial investigator with the Wilmington Municipal Court. He then became a Court Bailiff in the Wilmington courts. He was asked and then accepted the position of Justice of the Peace and was sworn in in 1998 and retired in October 2014.
Larry was a voracious reader, especially of non-fiction and current events.
Larry was smart, funny, kind and very private. He was generous with his time and gifts, spontaneous and otherwise, to his friends and family. He was preceded in death by his parents, Laurence and Eleanor Fitchett; cousins, Tod Young and Mary Eleanor Trader; and nephew, David Arthur Fitchett. He is survived by his brother, Dave and Dave's wife Marilyn Kirsch in Albany, Oregon and their children Caroline, Jonathan, Tory and Matthew and grandnieces; and by his sister, Peggy Fitchett Kahan and her husband Tom in Seattle, Washington, their children Josh and Lauren, another grandniece, and grandnephews.