Hazel Thomas Fitch, age 90, of Aberdeen died Saturday, Jan. 26, 2013 at Scotia Village a Presbyterian Retirement home in Laurinburg.
She was born in Roanoke, Virginia in 1922 and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in 1939. She attended Mars Hill Jr. College and Furman University graduating summa cum laude in 1945. She attended Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.
She was one of the founding faculty members of Sandhills Community College. She began her 47 years of service in the Adult Basic Education Department in 1964 retiring in 2011 at age 88.
She dutifully served alongside of her husband as they ministered at Montrose Presbyterian Church, Richmond, Virginia; Summersville Presbyterian Church, Summersville, West Virginia, Culdee Presbyterian Church, West End; and Shiloh and Bethel Presbyterian churches, Raeford. She served in Presbyterian Women's work in many capacities and as president of the North Carolina Presbyterian Women in 1974. Most recently she served as lay minister at Euphronia Presbyterian Church, Sanford, for 18 years retiring in October, 2011.
She was preceded in death by her husband, William Kemper Fitch, Jr., by her brothers, Robert WilsonThomas, Carleton Lee Thomas, and sister, Helen Virginia Thomas.
She is survived by her sons, William Kemper Fitch III and his wife, Carolyn of Asheboro, and Robert Thomas Fitchof Atlanta, Georgia; grandchildren William Kemper Fitch IV and his wife Kelly of Dallas, Georgia, Cameron Walton Fitch of Dallas, Georgia; and great-grandson Cooper Walton Fitch of Dallas, Georgia. 6-8 p.m. at Fry-Prickett Funeral Home, 402 Saunders Street, Carthage. The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 at Bethesda Presbyterian Church, 1002 North Sandhills Boulevard, Aberdeen with Keith Miller and Jonathan Wallace officiating.
Memorials may be made to Euphronia Presbyterian Church, 169 Euphronia Church Road, Sanford, NC 27330, or Sandhills Community College, 3395 Airport Road, Pinehurst, NC 28374, or Hospice of Scotland County, P.O. Box 1033, Laurinburg, NC 28353.