A tribute to Leamington protector, enhancer and remarkable gentleman Archie Pitts

With the death of Archie Pitts on Saturday 8th July, Leamington has lost a tireless worker and an exceptionally able fund raiser for restoration and improvement projects in our town, writes Robin Adams of the Leamington Society.

Always with the unfailing support of his wife, Marianne, their achievements for the benefit of the town were recognised in 2019 by the Leamington Business Forum with the ‘Legends of Leamington’ Stars award for both of them.

Archie was born in Devon in 1939 and educated at Exeter School from where he won a scholarship to read Mathematics at Wadham College, Oxford.

There he met Marianne and after Oxford they married and moved to East Anglia, where they both taught – Archie at UEA and Marianne at secondary schools - and raised their three children.

The offer of a senior Lectureship in Finance for Archie at Warwick University was what led them to move to Leamington in 1995.

In spite of suffering a bout of cancer in his mid-40s, which necessitated major surgery and post operative radiotherapy, typically Archie bounced back as energetic as ever, even though he suffered from the after-effects of the treatment for the rest of his life.

In recent years this meant his life was punctuated by illnesses and periods in hospital.

But he remained a driving force and never put off until the following day what could be done today.

The day before he died in Warwick, the threat of closure of Railway Ticket Offices and what could be done to avert this was occupying his mind, and he still managed to send an email from his hospital bed regarding ongoing work at Leamington Station.

On his retirement from Warwick University, together with Marianne, Archie became a committee member of The Leamington Society and served as Chair from 2004 to 2010 and thereafter as Vice-Chair until just before his death.

He helped with the founding of Friends of Leamington Station in 2004 and also Friends of Pump Room Gardens, both affiliates of the Society.

These groups have greatly benefitted from Archie’s fund-raising expertise to the tune of some £ 1 million plus since their formation.

Aided by a team of dedicated volunteers, the station gardens have been restored and improved to the point where they have won multiple awards.

Likewise in the Pump Room Gardens, to celebrate the Queen’s diamond jubilee the restoration of the Victorian Bandstand and the installation of eight replica Linden Arches, following the original design with their beautiful overhead lamps, would never have happened without Archie’s fund-raising, persistence and determination to overcome all bureaucratic obstacles.

They can be admired as a fine and lasting legacy from a remarkable gentleman, whose life in retirement was dedicated to protecting and enhancing our beautiful town.