Larry Stitt

For most of his adult life, Larry Stitt was a constant, steady and unwavering presence through his dedicated service as an official for sporting events that were held on the area’s baseball and football fields, as well as on its basketball and volleyball courts.

Stitt, who passed away last Tuesday at the age of 73 after a battle with cancer, was remembered with appreciation by friends and officiating colleagues as an even-tempered, approachable official who called games as he saw them, and was quick to lend a helping hand to much younger officials who were just beginning to cut their teeth in the craft.

Stitt played baseball in his younger days, and served for decades as an umpire for high school baseball, George B. Kelley Federation, and Greater City Baseball League games, as well as for Little League and Teener League games.

Former Greater City Baseball League president Dale Snyder, who has managed the Blair County Oil team in the GCBL for the past 14 seasons, said that Stitt never made himself the focal point of the games that he officiated.

Stitt also patiently allowed players, coaches and managers to express points of view that were different than his own, Snyder recalled.

“Larry umpired a lot of games in our league, and he was a pretty decent umpire, especially behind the plate,” Snyder said. “He was a good balls-and-strikes guy, and he was easy to approach.

“Some of these other umpires don’t want to hear what you have to say if you have a question about a decision that they make,” Snyder said. “But Larry was able to take into consideration what a player, coach or manager had seen, even if Larry and that individual were not in agreement. Larry always heard everybody’s side of the story — he was good in that way.”

Stitt served as the umpire-in-chief for several baseball leagues in the area, and was in charge of scheduling other umpires to work alongside him, or under his direction.

He was also a long-standing presence at high school football and basketball games. Retired veteran football and basketball official Tim Hite was a member of Stitt’s crew for several decades in both sports.

“Larry always kept up on the games, and he did a good job as an official,” Hite said. “We had full schedules on the same officiating crew in both football and basketball for our whole careers. We worked together and learned from (the late football and basketball official) Dick Bickel whenever there were only five-man officiating crews for football. Now they have six or seven.

“Larry was an umpire on the football crew, and in basketball, I worked with Larry and Dick Bickel as members of a three-man crew,” Hite added. “When Dick retired from officiating, Doug Moore became the third man on our basketball crew, and we worked games all over District 6.”

Hite said that Stitt was fair to everybody that he encountered, and was particularly conscientious about mentoring young officials who were just beginning their careers in the craft.

“Larry was a great guy,” Hite said. “He would bend over backwards to help anybody, especially the new officials. Larry would tell me about taking the newer officials under our wings, teaching them the mechanics of the games, and helping them to get adjusted.

“Larry was a guy who was always willing to work with everybody,” Hite added. “Everybody was equal in his eyes, and at the games, he always treated everybody fairly.”

Moore was not just Stitt’s long-time basketball officiating colleague. The two were also brothers-in-law, as Stitt was married to Moore’s sister, Kathy. The Stitts are the parents of three grown children and they have six grandchildren.

“He would do anything for anybody, he was just a good person that way,” Moore said of Larry Stitt. “He loved athletics, he was involved with officiating numerous sports — basketball, baseball, football, and volleyball.”

Moore retired as a basketball official after 25 years of service, but still officiates volleyball events. Moore said that Stitt did an excellent job of generally leaving the whistle in his pocket instead of making himself the centerpiece of an athletic event.

“He tried to let the teams play, and let the kids try to (determine) the results of their games themselves,” Moore said.

Stitt’s declining health in recent years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer that eventually metastasized limited his officiating duties, but he left a legacy that will endure for many years to come.

“He was easy to work with,” Snyder said. “I really liked Larry, and I think that most people around the league felt the same way about him.”

Moore said that Stitt — who retired after a long career as a railroad employee — will be deeply missed.

“He was very involved with the sporting life in this area as an official, and I think that the sports community in this area is going to miss him quite a bit,” Moore said.

The Stevens Mortuary Inc., 1421 Eighth Ave., is handling Stitt’s funeral arrangements. Friends will be received from 3 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, and a funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday in the Stevens Memorial Chapel.

See full obituary on Page A4.