Robert A. Nitschke

Robert A. Nitschke

Robert A. Nitschke, a former vice-president and Associate General Counsel of the General Motors Corporation, who combined a career in antitrust law with an interest in rediscovering and growing rare fruit varieties, died July 31, 2012, in Redmond, Washington.

He was born in Lakewood, Ohio, in 1915, and graduated from Western Reserve University in 1936 and from Yale Law School in 1939. Besides a successful career as an attorney, he also founded Southmeadow Fruit Gardens to offer rare fruit varieties to the home gardener. Before moving to Bellevue in 2007, he made his home in Birmingham, Michigan, for 57 years.

Loving husband to the late Jane Amend Nitschke, he is survived by his four children, Eric, of Decatur, GA, David, of Longboat Key, FL, Nancy Franco of Bellevue, WA, and John of Evanston, IL, and three grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in Michigan at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Church, Christ Scientist, 210 Massachusetts Ave., Boston MA 02115, or The Leelanau Conservancy, 105 North First Street, P.O. Box 1007, Leland, MI, 49654.

For a full obituary and

online guestbook, please go to:

WWW.FLINTOFTS.COM.