Gary Pitts Posted: Tuesday, Mar 22nd, 2011
PITTS—Gary Pitts, longtime Spruce Point resident, passed away March 16, 2011, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Born Sept. 22, 1935, at the height of the Great Depression in White Oak, Okla., to August and Greta Pitts, Gary suffered from a thyroid imbalance that went undiagnosed until he was 18 months old. This condition left Gary mentally challenged for the rest of his life. He moved with his parents to central California in 1936. He began attending school in Elderwood, Calif., in 1942. Four years later he moved with his family to San Bernardino, where he lived for the next 33 years.
Gary loved children and helped care for his niece and nephews, and later, his great nieces. He also worked at a number of small jobs over the years, but it wasn’t until he moved to Grants Pass, Ore., in 1979, that he discovered his true passion: walking the country roads and riding his bike down shady lanes. He took this passion with him when he, along with his parents, moved to Florence in 1999.
In 2002 Gary moved to Spruce Point Assisted Living. If you’ve lived in Florence for any length of time you may remember seeing Gary walking down Highway 101 in his flat-brimmed black leather hat, or maybe it was the straw one. Or maybe you’ve see him on his bike, halfway to Yachats. He loved his independence, which Spruce Point helped him maintain so beautifully.
But in March 2008, Gary began to exhibit signs of dementia. He moved into an Alzheimer’s Care Unit in Eugene while Spruce Point built its memory care facility. One year after moving to Eugene, Spruce Point opened its memory care unit and Gary gleefully returned.
For him it was like coming home again. He remembered many of the staff and residents and it wasn’t long before he felt as though he had never left.
Gary is survived by his sister, Eileen Newman Dickerson, and her husband Chuck of Irvine, Calif.; his sister Kathryn Pitts of San Francisco; his brother Arnold Pitts of Florence; as well as three nephews and many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Burns’s Riverside Chapel. No services are scheduled.
PITTS—Gary Pitts, longtime Spruce Point resident, passed away March 16, 2011, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Born Sept. 22, 1935, at the height of the Great Depression in White Oak, Okla., to August and Greta Pitts, Gary suffered from a thyroid imbalance that went undiagnosed until he was 18 months old. This condition left Gary mentally challenged for the rest of his life. He moved with his parents to central California in 1936. He began attending school in Elderwood, Calif., in 1942. Four years later he moved with his family to San Bernardino, where he lived for the next 33 years.
Gary loved children and helped care for his niece and nephews, and later, his great nieces. He also worked at a number of small jobs over the years, but it wasn’t until he moved to Grants Pass, Ore., in 1979, that he discovered his true passion: walking the country roads and riding his bike down shady lanes. He took this passion with him when he, along with his parents, moved to Florence in 1999.
In 2002 Gary moved to Spruce Point Assisted Living. If you’ve lived in Florence for any length of time you may remember seeing Gary walking down Highway 101 in his flat-brimmed black leather hat, or maybe it was the straw one. Or maybe you’ve see him on his bike, halfway to Yachats. He loved his independence, which Spruce Point helped him maintain so beautifully.
But in March 2008, Gary began to exhibit signs of dementia. He moved into an Alzheimer’s Care Unit in Eugene while Spruce Point built its memory care facility. One year after moving to Eugene, Spruce Point opened its memory care unit and Gary gleefully returned.
For him it was like coming home again. He remembered many of the staff and residents and it wasn’t long before he felt as though he had never left.
Gary is survived by his sister, Eileen Newman Dickerson, and her husband Chuck of Irvine, Calif.; his sister Kathryn Pitts of San Francisco; his brother Arnold Pitts of Florence; as well as three nephews and many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Burns’s Riverside Chapel. No services are scheduled.
Gary Pitts Posted: Tuesday, Mar 22nd, 2011
PITTS—Gary Pitts, longtime Spruce Point resident, passed away March 16, 2011, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Born Sept. 22, 1935, at the height of the Great Depression in White Oak, Okla., to August and Greta Pitts, Gary suffered from a thyroid imbalance that went undiagnosed until he was 18 months old. This condition left Gary mentally challenged for the rest of his life. He moved with his parents to central California in 1936. He began attending school in Elderwood, Calif., in 1942. Four years later he moved with his family to San Bernardino, where he lived for the next 33 years.
Gary loved children and helped care for his niece and nephews, and later, his great nieces. He also worked at a number of small jobs over the years, but it wasn’t until he moved to Grants Pass, Ore., in 1979, that he discovered his true passion: walking the country roads and riding his bike down shady lanes. He took this passion with him when he, along with his parents, moved to Florence in 1999.
In 2002 Gary moved to Spruce Point Assisted Living. If you’ve lived in Florence for any length of time you may remember seeing Gary walking down Highway 101 in his flat-brimmed black leather hat, or maybe it was the straw one. Or maybe you’ve see him on his bike, halfway to Yachats. He loved his independence, which Spruce Point helped him maintain so beautifully.
But in March 2008, Gary began to exhibit signs of dementia. He moved into an Alzheimer’s Care Unit in Eugene while Spruce Point built its memory care facility. One year after moving to Eugene, Spruce Point opened its memory care unit and Gary gleefully returned.
For him it was like coming home again. He remembered many of the staff and residents and it wasn’t long before he felt as though he had never left.
Gary is survived by his sister, Eileen Newman Dickerson, and her husband Chuck of Irvine, Calif.; his sister Kathryn Pitts of San Francisco; his brother Arnold Pitts of Florence; as well as three nephews and many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Burns’s Riverside Chapel. No services are scheduled.
PITTS—Gary Pitts, longtime Spruce Point resident, passed away March 16, 2011, from complications of Alzheimer’s disease.
Born Sept. 22, 1935, at the height of the Great Depression in White Oak, Okla., to August and Greta Pitts, Gary suffered from a thyroid imbalance that went undiagnosed until he was 18 months old. This condition left Gary mentally challenged for the rest of his life. He moved with his parents to central California in 1936. He began attending school in Elderwood, Calif., in 1942. Four years later he moved with his family to San Bernardino, where he lived for the next 33 years.
Gary loved children and helped care for his niece and nephews, and later, his great nieces. He also worked at a number of small jobs over the years, but it wasn’t until he moved to Grants Pass, Ore., in 1979, that he discovered his true passion: walking the country roads and riding his bike down shady lanes. He took this passion with him when he, along with his parents, moved to Florence in 1999.
In 2002 Gary moved to Spruce Point Assisted Living. If you’ve lived in Florence for any length of time you may remember seeing Gary walking down Highway 101 in his flat-brimmed black leather hat, or maybe it was the straw one. Or maybe you’ve see him on his bike, halfway to Yachats. He loved his independence, which Spruce Point helped him maintain so beautifully.
But in March 2008, Gary began to exhibit signs of dementia. He moved into an Alzheimer’s Care Unit in Eugene while Spruce Point built its memory care facility. One year after moving to Eugene, Spruce Point opened its memory care unit and Gary gleefully returned.
For him it was like coming home again. He remembered many of the staff and residents and it wasn’t long before he felt as though he had never left.
Gary is survived by his sister, Eileen Newman Dickerson, and her husband Chuck of Irvine, Calif.; his sister Kathryn Pitts of San Francisco; his brother Arnold Pitts of Florence; as well as three nephews and many great- and great-great-nieces and nephews.
Arrangements are being handled by Burns’s Riverside Chapel. No services are scheduled.
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