James Henderson Kitchen, known by "Dad" by his five children, "Jim" by his countless friends, and "Mr. Kitch" by the thousands of students he taught in Boca Raton, FL passed away on January 22, 2006, two months short of his 80th birthday. Dad was born on March 16, 1926 in Ashland, KY and was raised in Huntington, WV. He graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1950 and received masters degrees from the University of Colorado and Florida Atlantic University. Proudly serving his country, he was a Captain in the United States Air Force. As a petroleum geologist, he worked for Gulf Oil in Utah, Colorado, Wyoming and Oklahoma. After marrying mom (Carolyn Kitchen) in 1959, they moved overseas where dad worked for Standard Oil in Turkey, Guatemala and Libya, where two of his daughters were born. In 1963 dad settled the family in Boca Raton. He began teaching earth science at Boca Raton Middle School and afterwards taught at Spanish River High School. "Mr. Kitch" as his students called him, had a knack for making boring subjects (like Science) fun and his students loved his great sense of humor. Dad had an insatiable wanderlust. Over the course of his lifetime, he traveled to every state in the U.S. and to over 100 countries, making friends every where he went. Trekking through forests in distant lands, diving for and collecting ancient artifacts, hunting for fossils in remote riverbeds, fishing in Yellowstone and gazing at the Grand Tetons made him happy. He was at peace in the West and accordingly he greatly respected and appreciated the native Indians. When watching a college football game with him one had to be careful.... because he could spontaneously break out in Oklahoma's fight song, "Boomer Sooner." He loved UNC basketball and found great delight when Duke lost. He married Judy Welch on July 24, 1999. She was an angel to dad and was such a great companion during his final seven years. He loved her very much. His greatest accomplishment was being a great father. He and mom raised five children who will miss his friendship and guidance. He is survived by wife, Judy and her family; daughter Jill who lives in Leesburg, FL with her husband Mike; their three children, Brian, Erin and Suzanne; daughter, Anne Guillette, who lives in Annapolis, MD; daughter, Kris, who lives in Severna Park, MD with her husband Dave; and their two children, Matthew and Dylan; son, Todd, who lives in Fayetteville, NC; and son, Jim, who lives in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife Susan; and their two children Kenan and Karsen. A celebration of dad's life will take place at the First Presbyterian Church in Boca Raton on Thursday, January 26th from 3-5pm. There will be an informal gathering of friends and family to share life stories from 3-4:30pm and a short service from 4:30-5pm. Stop by for five minutes or stay the whole time. If you knew Dad we'd love to have you join us. In lieu of flowers, please donate money in his name to Trickle-Up (www.trickleup.org), a non-profit which helps low-income people around the world start businesses.
This was the write-up for Mr. Kitchen taken from the Sun Sentinel this last week (1/25/06). |
