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2015 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 773
Celebrating the life of George B. Fitch.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 20, 2015
Agreed to by the Senate, February 25, 2015

 

WHEREAS, George B. Fitch, the deeply respected former Mayor of Warrenton and the founder of the famous Jamaican national bobsleigh team of the 1980s, died on December 30, 2014; and

WHEREAS, born to Presbyterian missionaries in Canton, China, George Fitch grew up in Hong Kong, India, and Singapore; he learned the value of cultural exploration and respect for other people at a young age; and

WHEREAS, George Fitch attended the National University of Singapore, where he excelled as a swimmer and tennis player and was asked to represent the country in the Olympic Games; he earned a bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster and a master’s degree from George Washington University; and

WHEREAS, George Fitch served as a graduate teaching assistant at George Washington University before joining the U.S. Foreign Service; over the course of his 12-year career, he served as a commercial attaché and deputy chief of mission in Belize and led the Caribbean Basin Initiative (CBI); and

WHEREAS, while working to encourage responsible economic growth in the Caribbean and Central America with the CBI, George Fitch observed that the skillsets of Jamaican track and field athletes could translate to bobsledding; he developed the Jamaican national bobsleigh team, which competed in the 1988 Winter Olympic Games; and

WHEREAS, in the 1980s, George Fitch and his wife, Patricia, moved to Fauquier County and quickly became active members of the community; they purchased a small farm north of Warrenton and advocated for responsible government by organizing the Fauquier Taxpayers Against Waste; and

WHEREAS, desirous to be of further service to the residents of Warrenton, George Fitch ran for and was elected mayor in 1998; he served for four terms until his well-earned retirement in June 2014; and

WHEREAS, as mayor, George Fitch used his skill as an economist to maintain high levels of efficient, quality public services while keeping real estate taxes and municipal expenses low, which he called “the Warrenton miracle”; and

WHEREAS, George Fitch also supported efforts to establish the John S. Mosby House Museum and the Warrenton Aquatic and Recreation Facility, which will be renamed in his honor; and

WHEREAS, George Fitch will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 40 years, Patricia, and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of George B. Fitch, the former Mayor of Warrenton and a deeply respected member of the community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of George B. Fitch as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.