Russell Pitcher is remembered at St John’s by a statue of the Madonna and Child in the south aisle.
Russell James Pitcher (1905-47) was born in Norwich and educated at the City Secondary School. He worked in local government, first in his home city, then Hammersmith, before being appointed Deputy City Treasurer of Winchester. In 1935, aged just 30, he was chosen from 40 applicants to be Borough Treasurer of Bury St Edmunds, the post he held until his untimely death at the age of 42. When the town was without a Town Clerk, he would fill the role on a temporary basis. A high-flyer, he obtained second place in the whole country in his final examination to become an Associate of the Institute of Municipal Treasurers and Accountants, securing also the ‘Ogden Whiteley’ prize for best essay in local government finance. He built a successful career in local government but had also considered reading for the Bar or becoming an ecclesiastical accountant.
Pitcher was well-known in the town. He was a founder member of Bury St Edmunds Rotary Club, a freemason, and a member and sometime president of the Bury and West Suffolk Chess Club. At St John’s he was Vicar’s warden and an altar server, and he contributed to the wider Church as Diocesan representative in the Church Assembly and as a member of the Central Board of Finance.
Flags over civic buildings in Bury flew at half-mast on his death, which occurred suddenly after an operation. The local press described Pitcher as ‘no bureaucrat but intensely human in his outlook’. He was married with one son.
Pitcher is remembered at St John’s by a statue of the Madonna and Child in the south aisle (pictured).