John Garrett Gittzus – 50th Reunion Essay

John Garrett Gittzus

Date of Death: 15-Oct-2012

College: Timothy Dwight

(This memorial was posted on the website of the Cremation Society of New Hampshire and reprinted on the Class Website.)

John Garrett Gittzus, MD, of Plymouth, New Hampshire, formerly of Somers, Connecticut, passed away suddenly from natural causes at his home October 15, 2012. He was the beloved husband of 42 years to Carol (Conrad) Gittzus, his best friend and partner. He was born May 16, 1947 in Lynn, Massachusetts. He was awarded a full scholarship to St. John’s Preparatory School in Danvers, Massachusetts, and graduated from Yale University in the class of 1969 and the University of Connecticut School of Medicine class of 1973.

He served his country as an Air Force physician in the public health services.

He was board certified in both internal medicine and infectious disease. He had a private practice for many years in Enfield, Connecticut and subsequently practiced infectious disease at Windham Hospital, Johnson Memorial Hospital, and The State of Connecticut Dept. of Corrections.

In later years of his career, he was an associate professor of medicine at the University of Connecticut, and recently retired to New Hampshire to spend more time with his family and pursue his many interests. He enjoyed Yale football and tailgating, the Boston Red Sox, the New England Patriots, fishing, skiing, and spending time with his daughter Jennifer and granddaughter Sarah, and was looking forward to the imminent birth of his grandson Gage.

He was also beloved by his daughter Jen Gittzus, MD, his son-in-law Dan Pollard, and his granddaughter Sarah Gittzus Pollard of Henniker, New Hampshire, as well as his brother James Gittzus, MD of Canaan, New York and extended family.

From Mike Baum: John and I had little in common in terms of backgrounds or interests, but he was a warm, talented guy with obviously a sense of responsibility. I saw him at the 25th and we all relived our youths for a weekend and parted again. The next thing I heard about him was his death notice in YAM. To John, who as I recall was brought up Boston Catholic, requiescat in pace.

From John Bay: John Gittzus was one of my roommates in Durfee freshman year (along with Mike Baum and Bill Harvey). John was a Massachusetts guy and loved the Boston teams, especially the Red Sox.