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John W. Pettit
March 5, 1942 - April 16, 2020
John Wallace Pettit, 78, passed away in Los Angeles, CA on Thursday, April 16th, 2020. John was born in Wyandotte, Michigan in 1942 and graduated from Grosse Pointe High School (class of '60), where he played the tuba in the band and was a soloist with the band in his senior year. He attended the University of Notre Dame where he was a proud member of the Band of the Fighting Irish and toured with the Notre Dame Concert Band. John received his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration/Accounting from ND and continued at Michigan State University where he earned his MBA.
After graduation, John lived in Troy, MI, and married Kathie Endres on August 8th, 1970 at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church. in St. Clair Shores, MI. He began his career at Ernst and Ernst, and as Controller at the Detroit Institute of Technology, he became the Chief Financial Officer at the Michigan Cancer Foundation. By that time, John and Kathie had moved to Birmingham, MI, and then moved to Wellesley, MA to take the job as Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer of the Dana - Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. During his tenure there, he oversaw the completion of the Louis B. Mayer Research Laboratories. While in Wellesley, John and his family were members of St. Paul’s Catholic Church. In 1995, the Pettit Family moved to Los Angeles where John became the Chief Financial Officer of the John Wayne Cancer Center in Santa Monica, CA . He began a career in Financial Planning in 2000 from which he retired in 2016.
John was an avid sailor from the age of 15 when he bought his first sail boat and past member of the Crescent Sail Yacht Club in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI. He was an accomplished Tuba player, an Austin Healey enthusiast, an avid hiker, and wood worker. He is survived by his wife, Kathie, and their three children; Julie Ryan (Bill) of Charlotte NC, ,Andrew Pettit (Heather) of Novelty, Ohio, and Michael Pettit (Tamara) of Woodland Hills, CA. John had 6 grandchildren Claire, Cole, Will, Brooke, Hendricks and Roux. He will always be remembered for the love he had for his family and friends, his cheerful and modest demeanor and his dedication to the medical community. In John’s memory donations are being made to the Dana - Farber Gene project and the Notre Dame band program. Email John’s brother Peter (GPHS Class of ’69) at PCPettit@gmail.com for further details.
Due to the circumstances surrounding the current Covid-19 pandemic, the date for a memorial service has not yet been set.
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Patricia L. Hagland (Whitledge)
(* This is a memorial from John's younger brother, Peter, GPHS Class of 69)
This is a post about my oldest brother John Pettit who we lost last week at the terribly young age of 78 after a three year battle with the vagaries of a brain infection. I say young, because John didn’t really seem to age until he became ill and even then he tried as much as he was able to keep a semblance of youthful vigor.
He was probably the best big brother that anyone could hope for - the epitome of a big brother who cared deeply and taught one by example as well as by instruction and advice. My wanting to emulate him (he was an excellent Tuba player) was the main reason for my becoming a musician, starting with the baritone and then migrating to the trombone in high school. Because my dad really couldn’t afford lessons with a top notch teacher, John volunteered to help and that lead to my getting a solid foundation on the trombone from Allen Chase who was principal in the Detroit Symphony at the time.
As John was a wonderful father to his three children, and grandfather to his six grandchildren, he was also a devoted son, caring for my father and step-mother from across the country in LA while they lived in Florida, and jumping on an airplane at the drop of a hat to be with them whenever needed. He was there for my step-mother after my Dad passed, helping her navigate through her finances and helping her when she developed an illness in the last year of her life. He felt the responsibility to take care of her - probably promised my Dad at one point that he would do so.
He was kind, modest and gracious to everyone he met, fun to be around and always treated everyone with the respect they deserved - and sometimes even didn’t deserve. He was one of a kind and will be missed sorely.
(*Following is a post from John's son, Mike)
I can’t thank everyone enough for all the support and kind words about the passing of my father, John Pettit. While this is an incredibly tough time for our family, we are comforted by the fact that he has reunited with his parents and loved ones in heaven...
For everyone who didn’t know my dad - here goes: he loved classical music, he enjoyed the taste of black licorice, he loved driving his Austin Healey around town, he loved sailing with his brothers, he would end every mealtime grace with “Go Irish” which made some eyebrows raise when my friends would join us for dinner, he loved taking walks and hiking, he mastered the Danish pancake, he loved breaking out the Tuba for impromptu dance parties when the grand kids arrived, he loved photography, he was a man of faith, he loved to read - anything and everything, he was always the first one up, while not a Phish fan – he LOVED their first album Junta, he did math equations for fun – just to “stay sharp”, he required yard work after Saturday morning cartoons which seemed insane back in the day, he never missed a Notre Dame football game - even the lean years (yes, there were a few), he loved finance and numbers, most importantly he loved my mom and exemplified how a husband should treat his wife, he was the best dad anyone could ask for and I feel blessed to be his son. He has set the bar pretty high for me to try fill his shoes, I’ll miss you every day dad, rest in peace and “Go Irish!”
Marjorie Ann Beatty (Blanco)
John was a great friend in high school and beyond. Twice in high school he rode his bike (once with his brother and the other with classmate Greg Zolad) 25 miles to my parents' farm in Washington, MI to say hello! John was a kind, thoughtful, gentle person who will be greatly missed by all of us who knew him. Profound sympathy to Kathie and all members of the Pettit family. Marjie Beatty Blanco
Greg Zolad
john and i first became friends in elementary school when i took piano lessons from his mum. we lived close to each other and got along fine. eventually we both ended up with paper routes. we both had 3 speed english bikes, and, for us, bikes were freedom. somewhere along the way we both got interested in sailboats. we learned about sailing by crewing out of Crescent Sail Yacht Club. because we both were young and in good shape (see bicycling) we starting taking trips. first to friend Marjorie Beattys folks farm. then we combined our two favourites, bicycling and sailing. we added saddlebags and camping gear on our bikes . we rode from our houses to Port Huron for the start of the Port Huron to Mackinaw Sailboat race. then rode on to Ludington State Park for overnight camping. we watched the start of the race and then next day tried to walk. we were both really sore. another memory involves me, john and his tuba. i had picked him up at high school in my foks ford station wagon. he had his tuba. we found out if we put the back seat down and opened the tailgate john could seranade the folks in cars around us. we went up and down Mack Ave with john playing away. after highschool we went in different directions . there is a song "its just miles, its not distance that separates us". we have always been friends and i will miss him a bunch. where ever he is, the tuba section just got a bunch better.
James P. Thistlethwaite
Greg,
Thank you for this amusing and poignant remembrance. John and his wife lived in Wellesley, MA some years ago, and we enjoyed an evening with them at dinner in our home in Westwood. He was a "quality" guy in every sense of the word. Jim Thistlethwaite