FAIRFIELD, Conn. Robert F. Pitt Sr. of Keene, N.H., died May 9 at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene. He was 89.
A resident of Fairfield for nearly 30 years, Pitt was a retired dean of Fairfield University.
He was born Nov. 13, 1922, in Bridgeport to Harold L. and Anne M. Brady Pitt. In 1943, Pitt received a bachelors of science degree from New Haven State Teachers College. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in Italy and served until 1946.
After his military service, Pitt returned to Bridgeport and married Doris DeRose. He began a career as a math teacher at the elementary school level and moved on to teach statistics at Fairfield University. In 1949, he became registrar of the university.
Pitt returned to college, attending Fordham University in the Bronx, N.Y. He earned a masters of science degree in education in 1959 and a doctorate in education in 1963. The following year, Pitt became assistant dean of arts and sciences at Fairfield University. In 1967, he became dean of the graduate school of education. He retired from Fairfield University in 1987.
Pitt was a parishioner of St. Pius X Parish in Fairfield and a member of the Knights of Columbus Council. He was active in the community and professionally, serving as chairman of several municipal building committees and as a member of accreditation committees reviewing other colleges.
He was honored with the 1972 Distinguished Alumni award by Southern Connecticut State University in New Haven. Pitt and his wife moved to Keene 25 years ago. There, he was a parishioner of St. Margaret Mary Church and a volunteer driver for cancer patients.
Pitt is survived by a son, Robert F. Pitt Jr. and his wife Jane E. Bickford of Bethel; and two grandchildren and a great-grandson. He was predeceased by his wife of 40 years, Doris DeRose Pitt, in 1992; and a brother, Harold T. Pitt, in 2011.
A Mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11 a.m. Monday, May 21, at St. Margaret Mary Church in Keene. Burial with committal prayers will be held Tuesday, May 22, at 1 p.m. in St. Michael Cemetery in Stratford.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to the Bethel Library Capital Campaign, P.O. Box 1027, Bethel, CT 06801. Foley Funeral Home in Keene is assisting the family with arrangements.
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