Stephen Pitches

Steve Pitches was born in Yonkers, NY and moved with his family to Brewster, NY at a young age. A quiet, shy and gentle soul with a little boy’s laugh that lit up his face, Steve was creative, intuitive, thoughtful and a romantic, at heart. In the early days of our courtship, he wrote tender poetry, thoughtful prose and hilarious short stories. He probably would have been content to live a quiet life by the ocean in a writing and photography career. With that deep voice, he was good in radio, a job that he took on the Hudson in NY after graduation from Ithica College in 1971. He moved to Atlanta and worked in radio for a short time before he joined the Educational Media Department at Georgia State University in 1975. He was graduated from GSU with a Master’s Degree in Communication in 1991. Steve worked at GSU for 36 years, also with Distant Learning and, most recently, with the Department of Information Systems and Technology. He joined First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in 1983 after I introduced him to my “new” church home. Steve immediately answered the call for volunteers to form a Television Ministry in 1986. He worked on the “pilot” broadcast and continued in that ministry as director of the Sunday worship broadcasts and weddings performed at the church. Steve served as chairman of the Broadcast Committee, and was a member of the Communications Council since 2000. He was also a member of the FPC/Hillside (Decatur) Presbyterian Church Partnership Ministry, which actively pursues service as outlined in Micah 6:8. He was ordained as Elder at FPC in 2008, serving on the Communications Council. Steve loved to travel, write, and all things to do with video production. Yard work and gardening, which he watched his father and mother enjoy, was one of his pastimes, and gave him a great sense of accomplishment, along with the ‘Pepper Jelly” that ha and I made from our garden for several years. He looked forward to Sunday dinners of his smoked chicken, corn on the cob and a salad in the summer. Steve was a hard worker right up to the day he was admitted to the hospital. He left us very unexpectedly, We are stunned and miss him tremendously. Steve is survived by his wife of 28 years, Brenda Crayton-Pitches; parents, Sidney and Hazel Pitches; sisters, Ruth (Mark) Anderson and Jean (Leo) Keene; aunt, Betty (Richard) Blackmar; nephews, Adam (Jennifer) Anderson and David (Dusty) Anderson; nieces, Mia and Gabriela Crayton; mother-in-law, Corine Crayton; brother-in-law, Vernon Crayton; sister-in-law, Gloria Crayton; two dear loved ones, Dellissima Bailey and Margaret Jones Hill; great nephews and nieces, Hagan, Riley, Ethan, Sydney, Payton and Owen Anderson and Austin Marshall; in addition to a large family of cousins and friends. Visitation will be held at A.S. Turner & Sons, 2773 N. Decatur Rd, Decatur, GA 30033 on Thursday, Oct. 13th from 6pm-8pm and on Friday, Oct. 14th 10am-12noon. The funeral will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 1328 Peachtree Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30309-3902 on Friday, Oct. 14th at 1:00pm with Rev. Craig N. Goodrich officiating. A reception will follow. Contributions may be made to the FPC Broadcast Ministry or FPC/Hillside Partnership Ministry in loving memory of Steve. I love you, Babe. I always will.

For brenda, 1982

I wonder what our friends will say
the day they find us, hand in hand,
and will the roses be in flower
the hour it all comes true?

The day we stop pretending that
it’s 1982, or ten,
and people should be more in tune-
will I still love you then?

I wonder how they’ll lay us out
the last day of our renaissance,
and will they write an epitaph
on our behalf at all?

The day it all comes down to show
how slow the changes are to come,
will we be lovers, friends, or fools,
and will His Will be done?

The story is not written yet-
the “who, what, where, and why, and how”-
but if I can not love you “when,”
I surely love you now.

c. Stephen H. Pitches
May 1982


Funeral Home:
A. S. Turner & Sons
2773 North Decatur Road
Decatur, GA
30033