Robert Frederick Kitz

Robert Frederick Kitz of Rock Hall, MD, passed away on February 11 at Chester River Hospital. He was 88. Born in Philadelphia on January 31, 1924, he was the eldest child of Frederick and Emily Kitz, (nee Goodman). He was raised in the Colonial Manor neighborhood of Woodbury, NJ, and attended Paulsboro High School, graduating in 1941. His first job was as “office boy” at Curtis Publishing in Philadelphia. His job there included delivering Norman Rockwell’s paintings, used for the covers of “Saturday Evening Post,” to the executive offices each week. In 1941, he began work at Mobil Oil, (then known as Socony-Vacuum Laboratories) as a lab technician in their Research and Development Facility in Paulsboro, NJ. In February of 1943, his plans to join the US Air Corps were derailed by a draft notice from the US Army. He served in WWII as a private in the 33rd Chemical Company as part of the 531st Engineers Shore Regiment. He landed on Utah Beach at H minus 30 on June 6, 1944, with the 1st Engineer’s Special Brigade. He spent most of D-Day clearing German mines and using them to blow through the concrete sea wall to get the tanks through. He spent several weeks on the beaches of Normandy setting up the supply lines before eventually joining up with Patton’s third Army in Germany where his job was to help neutralize large supplies of nerve gas that had been stockpiled in containers on the autobahn. He returned stateside in July of 1945 and prepared to be shipped out to the Pacific for an impending invasion of Japan when the war ended. After the war, he returned home to New Jersey and attended the University of Pennsylvania in the evenings while continuing to work in the labs at Mobil. Throughout the late 40’s and 1950’s, he became an avid weekend adventurer. He enjoyed skiing, sailing, golfing, and spelunking. He was a member of the Wissahickon Ski Club, the Jersey Ski-ters, and the National Speleological Society. He was an early member of the National Ski Patrol, serving for over 30 years, and achieved the position of Section Chief, overseeing the first aid patrols of six Mid-Atlantic ski areas. Still on the slopes into his 70’s, his passion for skiing and travel took him to mountains in Colorado, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Utah, Vermont, Canada, and New Zealand. He also golfed in many of these same places, including the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland, and explored caves in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. He also was an avid yachtsman, and met his future wife on a sailboat trip on the Delaware River. They were married on St. Croix, US Virgin Islands on November 25th, 1961. Their shared love for the sea drove them to take many voyages, all along the Atlantic Coast and Caribbean. Later, they bought an old wooden sailboat in Montreal, sailing it home to New Jersey in weekend shifts, with the help of their two children and several friends and neighbors, by way of the Great Lakes, Erie Canal and Hudson River. Preferring the sailing friendliness of the Chesapeake, they upgraded to a larger sailboat more suited for living on during extended weekends. They eventually traded that in for their bayside house near Rock Hall, MD making the Eastern Shore home since 1996, where they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary this past November. Bob Kitz also became a Life Member of both the VFW and American Legion. Having originally joined the Legion during WW2, he became Commander of Post 100 in Colonial Manor, NJ. He later became active in the VFW through the Lawson-Cox Post in Mantua, NJ, before joining the Sgt. Preston Ashley Post of the American Legion in Rock Hall, MD. Additionally, he participated in annual reunions of his Normandy unit in various states. Mr. Kitz is survived by his wife, Dr. Jane Chatten Kitz; a son, Robert Ford Kitz, of Frederica, DE; daughter Lois Emily Kitz, of Rock Hall, MD; sisters, Elaine Sigmund of Carrollton, GA, and Marion Pribis of Ambler, PA; brother Donald Kitz of Deer, AR; plus twelve nieces and nephews. A memorial service is being planned for Saturday, February 25 at 1 p.m. at the Sgt. Preston Ashley American Legion Post in Rock Hall, MD. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kent County Medical Adult Daycare through the United Way of Kent County.

Robert Frederick Kitz

January 31, 1924 - February 11, 2012