Marc Fite

MARC FITE, 77, native Houstonian, retired oil company credit manager and longtime musical-theater performer, died July 4 in the shock trauma ICU of Memorial Hermann Hospital 12 days after being critically injured when a car crashed through the front of a Shipley's Donut Shop where he was having coffee. Marc was born January 7, 1931, to Esther E. and Edgar T. Fite at his paternal grandfather's truck farm, now the site of DePelchin Children's Center on the banks of Buffalo Bayou at Shepherd. Predeceased by his parents and brother Tom Fite, Marc leaves to mourn his cousins Sue and Skipper Armstrong of Friendswood, Sharon and Jack Williams of Houston and extended family; also his longtime close friends C. Dale Olson and Gene Harbin of Los Angeles; P.J. Headley of Port Arthur; Susie Works, Margaret Hahn, Rene' Guiberteau, Margaret and Harvey Bott, Bill Bartlett, John Holt and Javier Ontiveros, all of Houston; his adored puppy, Charlie II; and countless other friends in the credit, arts and cultural communities. A 1949 graduate of San Jacinto High School, Marc earned a BA degree from the University of Texas at Austin in cultural anthropology and fine arts. He served in the U.S. Air Force in Japan before embarking on a long career in credit management, serving three terms as President of the Houston Association of Credit Managers before retiring from Eastman Christiansen. A lifelong music-theater aficionado who made his first stage appearances as a teenager in Houston's Summertime Light Opera and the nightclub revue The Kids Next Door, Marc also performed with the Avalon Theatre; The Ernie Pyle Players in Tokyo; Theatre, Inc.; and, most recently, Bayou City Concert Musicals. He was currently serving as treasurer of BCCM and served as a judge for the Tommy Tune Awards, the annual musical-theater awards for Houston area high school students. His retirement years were filled with travel, art collecting, tending his prize-winning orchids and bromeliads, volunteering at Young Audiences of Houston, Theatre Under The Stars, Chinese Community Center and Asia Society, recording children's books, performing in industrial films and being a tireless caregiver and chauffer for the family and friends he cherished. Marc's friends and family thank the superb and dedicated trauma doctors and nurses at Memorial Hermann who worked so hard to save him. At Marc's instruction, a graveside Catholic interment service will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, July 11, at Hollywood Cemetery, 3605 North Main, followed by a poolside reception at Parc IV, 3614 Montrose Blvd. In lieu of flowers, tax-deductible contributions made be made to Bayou City Concert Musicals, P.O. Box 542795, Houston, TX 77254 (www.bayoucityconcertmusicals.org) or Poodle Rescue of Houston, 13302 Schroeder Rd, Houston, TX 77070 (www.poodlerescueofhouston.com).