Walter Hitchcock

Rev. Walter L. Hitchcock Jr. HICKORY The Reverend Mr. Walter LeVanois Hitchcock Jr. was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. to Walter L. Hitchcock Sr. and Louisa Wilarmena Smith Hitchcock, both deceased. He was also preceded in death by three sisters, Katherine Zindell and husband, George; Jean, and husband, William and Flora; one brother, Leroy and wife, Margaret Walsh; two grandchildren, Eric Walter Hitchcock and Brett Baxley Gosnell. The Rev. Mr. Hitchcock was married to Naomi Jane Orr, of Altoona, Pa. They celebrated 57 wonderful, exciting, loving years - a life of laughing together and crying together. Besides his wife Jane, he is survived by his younger brother William Gillis and wife, Sarah Anderson, of Media, Pa; two daughters, Pamela Jane and husband, Harold Ragan, of Kingston, Ga., and their three children Devon Earl Walter, Courtney Jane, and Kathleen Ragan and Mary Ann Gosnell and husband, Mark, of Hickory, and their two sons, Andrew Scott and Matthew Worth; David Walter and wife, Shannon Williams, and their son Alexander Max, of Tampa, Fla.; Stephen Andrew, and wife, Catherine Burgess, of Hickory and their two children, Drew and Ella Brett. He was a loving husband, father, and grandfather. The Rev. Mr. Hitchcock was educated in the Philadelphia, Pa. educational system. He graduated from the "old" Northeast High School located on Lehigh Ave., close to two of his more favorite things in life, Connie Mack Stadium where the Phillies played, and also the Tastykake Baking Company. He worked at Keebler Baking Company, in Philadelphia for two years as assistant purchasing agent. He also served in the U.S. Army during the Korean conflict from 1950 to 1952. He was a supply sergeant and served in Germany for one year. He graduated from Muhlenberg College, Allentown, Pa. and The Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. He was ordained by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania, in 1957. He served as an assistant pastor at St. Paul's, Lansdowne, Pa. He then was called by the board of American Missions and developed a mission congregation in Fairless Hills, Pa., and was called by its congregation to serve as its first pastor. He then was called by the Board of World Missions, with his wife Jane, to be evangelistic missionaries in Santiago, Chile, where they developed a Spanish speaking congregation for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Chile. Upon his return from the mission field, he served as a Missionary-in-Residence for the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA. In January of 1970, he began his calling to serve the Lord as pastor of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church of Hickory, where he served for nearly twenty-four years. He loved to visit people and he loved to preach. He was very active in community affairs. He was a volunteer for the American Cancer Society and held all county offices, and was elected to the State Board and the National Board. He was the first recipient of the Flaming Sword Award for being Volunteer of the Year. He coached Pee Wee, Midget, and Little League baseball in Hickory for fifteen years. He was a member of the Hickory Rotary Club, serving as a Director for three years. He was a member of the Hickory Executive Club, serving as president and a member of the Board, and also was a member of the R.O.M.E.O. club. He served in many capacities for the North Carolina Synod. He served on the Vietnam Refugee Consultation Committee, and Mt. Olive was one of the first Lutheran congregations to sponsor a Vietnamese family. He served on and chaired for three years the Global Mission Committee. He also served as district leader for the Forward Together Campaign as a member of the Evangelism Committee and the American Missions Committee. He was also Board Member for The Bridge, a crisis intervention committee of the Hickory Cooperative Christian Ministry. By his own admission, and from what his sons and friends told him, his golf game left a lot to be desired. However, he enjoyed it and could boast of a hole-in-one at Lake Hickory, hole #6. Sometimes, he would say, "It is better to be lucky than to be good." There will be a memorial service at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church, Wednesday, June 5, at 4 p.m., with the Rev. Dr. Robert Allen officiating. The family will receive friends, before the service, from 2 to 3:45 p.m., in the Fellowship Hall. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to The Brett Baxley Gosnell Writing Prize, University of Virginia, The College Foundation, P.O. Box 5527, Charlottesville, VA, 22905 or, The Brett Baxley Gosnell Challenge Award, Hickory Public Schools, Attention: Mary Duquette, Hickory Public Schools, 432 4th Ave., SW, Hickory, NC 28602. The Hitchcock family is being served by the Bass-Smith Funeral Home, Hickory, NC.