{"id":249,"date":"2019-12-04T13:42:09","date_gmt":"2019-12-04T13:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/?page_id=249"},"modified":"2020-02-27T13:54:56","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T13:54:56","slug":"russell-james-pitcher","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/biographies\/russell-james-pitcher\/","title":{"rendered":"Russell James Pitcher"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box  gradient-container-1 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\"  style='background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;'><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row \"><div  class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion_builder_column_1_1 fusion-builder-column-1 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last gradient-column-1 1_1\"  style='margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:20px;'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\" style=\"padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;\"   data-bg-url=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-widget-area fusion-widget-area-1 fusion-content-widget-area\"><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-widget-area-1 {padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget h4 {color:#333333;}.fusion-widget-area-1 .widget .heading h4 {color:#333333;}<\/style><div id=\"alg_back_button_wp_widget-2\" class=\"widget alg_back_button_wp_widget\"><a href=\"javascript:history.back()\" class=\"alg_back_button_simple \" style=\"\"><< Return to previous section<\/a><\/div><div class=\"fusion-additional-widget-content\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box  gradient-container-2 nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\"  style='background-color: rgba(255,255,255,0);background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;'><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row \"><div  class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion_builder_column_1_1 fusion-builder-column-2 fusion-one-full fusion-column-first fusion-column-last gradient-column-2 1_1\"  style='margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;'>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper\" style=\"padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;\"   data-bg-url=\"\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fusion-text\"><div id=\"attachment_277\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-277\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-277 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/EN1_8507russell-james-pitcher.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/EN1_8507russell-james-pitcher-140x300.jpg 140w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/EN1_8507russell-james-pitcher-200x429.jpg 200w, https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/EN1_8507russell-james-pitcher.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-277\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Russell Pitcher is remembered at St John\u2019s by a statue of the Madonna and Child in the south aisle.<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Russell James Pitcher (1905-47)<\/strong> 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 \u2018Ogden Whiteley\u2019 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.<\/p>\n<p>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\u2019s he was Vicar\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p>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 \u2018no bureaucrat but intensely human in his outlook\u2019. He was married with one son.<\/p>\n<p>Pitcher is remembered at St John\u2019s by a <a href=\"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/building-history\/features-of-the-church\/pictures-and-statues\/\">statue of the Madonna and Child<\/a> in the south aisle (pictured).<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-clearfix\"><\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":11,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1607,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/249\/revisions\/1607"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/11"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stjohnsburystedmunds.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}