Wilbur Joseph Hitchcock

Wilbur Joseph Hitchcock, 89, of Oak Ridge, passed away, Friday, Sept. 7, at the Methodist Medical Center.

Mr. Hitchcock led a long challenging, adventurous life and never met a stranger. He is a product of the South’s Golden Age of lumbering.

He was born July 28, 1923, the son of Mark Wilbur Hitchcock and Edna Herbert Hitchcock, who resided in the logging town of Carbur, Fla.

As a child, he began learning timber cruising, surveying, and civil engineering skills from his father. He witnessed first-hand the railroad-centered logging of virgin pine and cypress in the Big Bend area of Florida.

He went on to study civil engineering at the University of Notre Dame and serve in the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II as a qualified photo-interpreter and rifle expert.

Mr. Hitchcock earned a master’s degree in forestry from the University of Florida. He has worked for Horne Lumber Co., Cumberland Case and Ben Jones Long Leaf Lumber Company and Oak Ridge Hardwoods, among others. Along the way, he’s bought countless tons of timber, dealt with scores of landowners, built several sawmills, dismantled a few, and helped dozens of lumber companies with expansion plans and mill layouts. He is a 66-year member of the Society of American Foresters and was active in SAF’s Tennessee-Kentucky Chapter.

He received his Eagle Scout badge and went on to become a Scout Master for the Boy Scouts of America. Mr. Hitchcock was a longtime member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church. He was an avid animal lover and never met a dog that didn’t like him. He loved life big and small and if he could change something for the better, he would try. We will miss you.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by wife, Mary Frances Hitchcock, daughter, Mary Ann Hitchcock, and granddaughter, Genevieve Marie Hitchcock.

He is survived by sons, Geoffrey Andrew Hitchcock, Twain Hitchcock and wife Diana, and Mark Wilbur Hitchcock and wife Joanne; daughters, Veronica A. V. Long and Yvonne Leona Hitchcock; grandchildren, Joseph A. Hitchcock, Lauren Hitchcock, Tyrell J. Hitchcock, Sean T. Hitchcock, Jill L. Todd and husband Clifford, Mary A. Long, Sarah Grace Long, James A. Griggs and his sister Naomi and her husband Kent, Joseph Reeds and Janay Reeds; and 13 great-grandchildren.

The family received friends on Thursday, Sept. 13, from 6–8 p.m. at Weatherford Mortuary.

A funeral mass will be held on Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Mary’s Catholic Church with Father Dustin Collins officiating. The interment will follow at Oak Ridge Memorial Park.

Military honors will be provided by the U.S. Marine Corps Honor Guard.

The family asks that any memorials be in the form of contributions in his memory to Weatherford Mortuary to help offset funeral expenses. An online guest book can be signed at www.weatherfordmortuary.com.