Obituary of Marie Rita Pitchford

Marie Rita Pitchford (ne Paluch) of Aptos was born in Weirton, WV, on November 10, 1918. She demonstrated her indomitable pioneer spirit when, after studying accounting in Wheeling, she drove cross-country to San Francisco, where she worked for the accounting firm of Price, Waterhouse. On a cruise to Hawaii, she was stranded in Honolulu by a longshoremen's strike, and decided to stay when she met and married William Myron Pitchford in 1949. Until her retirement in 1986, Marie worked for Pineapple Research Institute and the Hawaiian Sugar Planters Association, all the while raising four children as well as tirelessly contributing time and energy to church, school and community organizations. In 1987, she moved to Aptos Knoll Mobile Home Park, where, as treasurer of the homeowners' association, she helped to coordinate the purchase of the land by its residents. Marie's dedication to her friends and community were exemplified by her counting collection money for Resurrection Church, as well as knitting over 200 hats a year for charity. Not only was Marie a whiz with numbers, she was an enthusiastic puzzle solver and game player, whose marathon cribbage matches are part of the Pitchford family lore. Marie passed away on October 24, 2011, three weeks shy of her 93rd birthday, surrounded in her final days by loving neighbors, friends and family members. She is survived by sons Stanford, Dean and James; her only daughter Patricia Malia Colodner was killed in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. In addition, Marie leaves four grandchildren and a great-grandson. A memorial mass will be said at Resurrection Church, 7600 Soquel Drive, Aptos at 10:30 on Saturday, November 5. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her name to the National Psoriasis Foundation ( www.psoriasis.org/tribute)