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TAKOMA PARK, MD.—Joyce Bruce Pitzer, 92, late of Takoma Park, Md., died April 7, 2007 in Connecticut. Born July 9, 1914 in Lebanon, N.H., she was the fist child of Robert and Christine Bacon Bruce. Following her father’s death during the Spanish flu epidemic of 1918, Christine, a practical nurse, raised Joyce and her siblings, Donald and Roberta (both deceased) in Randolph. By the seventh grade, Joyce was determined to be a nurse. Following her graduation from Randolph High School, she entered nurses’ training at Mary Fletcher Hospital in Burlington, graduating in 1937. She subsequently completed a post-graduate course in obstetrics and gynecology at Providence-Lying-In (R.I.) and worked briefly at Herman Kiefer Hospital in Detroit, Mich. While head nurse in the delivery room at New Britain (Ct.) General Hospital, she met and married William B. Pitzer, an x-ray technician who had served four years in the US Navy. The couple took new positions in Washington, D.C. During the war years, Joyce was posted with her husband in Boston, Guam, California, Washington, D.C. and Hawaii. She served in the Altar Guild, Navy Wives Club, Post Nursery and Commissary. The Pitzers and their two sons settled in Takoma Park, Md., where she lived for 50 years. She was a Red Cross instructor at Suburban Hospital in Bethesda and volunteered in school health programs. Following Lt. Cmdr. Pitzer’s death in 1966, she updated her registered nursing credentials and became a charge nurse at the Hebrew Home of Washington until her retirement in 1985. In her retirement she was a volunteer patient care advocate for 18 years at Washington Adventist Hospital. Survivors include her two sons, William II of Orick, Cal. and Robert of North Hollywood, Cal.; sisters-in-law Jeanne Bruce of Medford, N.J., and Elizabeth Rhodes of Laurel, Md.; two grandsons, Christopher and Stephan Pitzer of Eureka, Cal.; great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren as well as many loving nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at the Ft. Meyer Chapel at Arlington National Cemetery at 3 p.m. (2:30 arrival, please) Wednesday, May 30, burial immediately following. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to Department of Pastoral Care, Washington Adventist Hospital, 7600 Carroll Avenue, Takoma Park, Md. 20912. ____________ |
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