Basil Pitzen

In loving memory of Basil Louis Eugene Pitzen Jr., Pops, GrandDad, Great-GrandDad, Father-of-the-Heart and Brother. Basil passed peacefully in his sleep on January 28, 2025 in the comfort of his son's home, Raymond Pitzen, in Wilmington, NC. At age 84, his fight with metastatic prostate cancer ended, a battle that began in 2008 with Lymphoma. Basil was the Father of four bright, delinquents... see, he'd laugh at that! Basil had the most wholehearted, emphatic laugh that hugged your soul from across the room. His hugs didn't stop at laughter, they came in the form of home cooking too; nurturing his family with the best Eggs Benedicts and always bragging when his dishes were ate-clean at a potluck. In the Summertime, he'd lay newspapers across picnic tables, serving up steamed Maryland Blue Crabs while sippin' on ice-cold Coors Light (his favorite beer because it didn't taste like beer). He was an incredible carpenter too, repeatedly buying the worst house in the nicest neighborhood and fixing it up. And he loved to work on his boat, he fashioned everything custom, down to the curtains he sewed himself. Basil started his IT career working on mainframe computers at Control Data in Washington DC with top security clearance (which meant he wasn't torching-up with the rest of his Pink Floyd-loving-buddies). Pink Floyd was the soundtrack to his life, a life he ended comfortably numb. He was passionate, he was particular, he was one of a kind. Now he has his Angel wings and is "Learning to Fly