Dr. Eric Fitch, Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Leadership, is being remembered by his longtime colleagues for his commitment to his students, friends and faith. Dr. Fitch passed away on Monday, June 24. His family requested his passing not be announced publicly until his personal effects were secured. A memorial service is being planned for Friday, August 30, at 3:00 p.m. in the Great Room in Andrews Hall. Students, faculty, staff and friends are invited to share their memories and anecdotes about the longtime professor.
“I co-chaired the committee that hired Eric 26 years ago. I was confident we were getting someone who knew the field; I didn’t know that I was also getting a good friend out of the deal,” said Dr. Dave McShaffrey, the Ebenezer Baldwin Andrews Chair of Natural Sciences.
Dr. Fitch began his academic career at MC in 1997 as an Assistant Professor of Environmental Science. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and served the College as the Director of the Environmental Science/Studies Program until his retirement this academic year.
He earned his B.S. in Biology with minors in Philosophy and Religion from St. Meinrad College, his graduate degree in Environmental Science–Applied Ecology and Public Policy from Miami University, and his doctorate from Michigan State University. Before joining Marietta, he served as an Assistant Professor of Political Science and Director of the Coastal Zone Studies Program at the University of West Florida (1991-97). While at Marietta, he served on the Board of Directors for the Ohio Environmental Council (2000-2008), was an East-West Center Fellow (2009-2013), and the Editor-in-Chief for Water Resources IMPACT–American Water Resources Association (2013-14). Specializing in water resources policy and management, waste management policy, and environmental impact, Dr. Fitch was a consultant and expert witness for numerous court cases and held leadership positions with the Regional Environmental Coalition for Ohio Valley Environmental Recovery, the Interdisciplinary Association, and the Ohio River Basin Consortium for Research and Education.
“I sat in on a class of his one semester and was amazed at the breadth of his knowledge and how he could effortlessly pull examples and anecdotes to expand on the material, and all without notes,” McShaffrey said. “I think Eric’s legacy will be the many students who have passed through the Environmental Science and Studies Programs and then gone on to careers that exceeded even their own expectations. Eric’s two loves were the College and the church; he will be missed greatly in both communities. ‘Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.’ ”
When Dr. Katy Lustofin first moved to Marietta and was looking to buy a house, Dr. Fitch — the only faculty member in her department who was in town that day — offered to meet her for lunch.
“He agreed to meet with me, the new hire, and over lunch, proceeded to give me a lot of helpful advice about the pros and cons of different places to live in Marietta, including, of course, where the air quality was the best,” Lustofin said. “I didn't realize it that day, but that lunch was the first of many to come, the beginning of a good friendship and just the first of an abundance of good advice that Eric would give me over the next 16 years.”
Lustofin said that sometimes, the advice was unsolicited and hard to hear, but it was always sound and from the heart, which was a sentiment echoed by some of students and advisees.
“And as Dave said, Eric always believed in his students, sometimes even seeing more in them than they saw themselves, nurturing their confidence as well as their abilities,” she said. “Mostly, when I think about Eric, I think his legacy is the community that he worked so hard to build, fostering relationships not just between himself and his students and colleagues but between different members of the community so that his students could have more mentors and internships and establish the network that would help lead them to their best potential outcome.”
“Our Marietta campus community is shocked by the news of Eric’s untimely death,” said Marietta College President Dr. Margaret L. Drugovich. “He was known to all of us and had many friends on this campus. Our Marietta colleagues can have a profound impact on our lives. We send wishes of sincere sympathy to Eric’s family, friends, former students, and colleagues.”