Hamilton Pitt, Jr.,—a retired professor, community figure and union organizer—died from a stroke on Feb. 20 in Corpus Christi, Texas. He was 60.
Pitt was born on Feb. 10, 1947, in Winsted, Conn., to the late Hamilton and Mary Pitt. Pitt began his activism as an undergrad at the University of Michigan, where he received his B.A. and where he was with the Students for a Democratic Society. He received his M.A. at Princeton University.
He moved to Chicago in 1972, where he began his career in the City Colleges at Malcolm X College. From there he moved on to Wilbur Wright College where he remained until he retired in 2004.
In the ’90s, he volunteered in the annual AIDS walk, collecting donations and walking. He was a deacon in St. James Church in Chicago and was an active member of Corpus Christi Church of the Good Shepherd. Pitt was also an avid sports fan, especially liking hockey and baseball.
He is survived by his sister, Carolyn Maches, of Lamoine, Maine; a nephew, David Frett of Clifton, N.J.; a niece, Sabrina Allard, and her husband, Jay, of Norwalk, Conn.; a niece, Emma Barrett, of Waterbury, Conn.; an aunt, Beth Brown of Wallingford, Conn.; and several cousins and friends.