James Frederick Pritt

James Frederick Pritt 

ROCHESTER, NY - December 11, 2024 at age 88. 

James Frederick (Fred) Pritt was born in Elkins, West Virginia on November 3, 1936. He was the son of Alton Pritt and Audrey Baldwin Pritt, school teachers who met at an old-fashioned pie social in the small mountain village of Glady, West Virginia. 

Fred graduated from Elkins High School in 1954 and received his BA (Psychology) and MA (Drama and Speech) from West Virginia University, where he became a member of Phi Kappa Sigma and served in the Army ROTC. While at West Virginia University, Fred first developed his life-long interest in theater, which led him to later complete the coursework and qualifying exams toward a Doctorate in Education (Theater) at Teachers College, Columbia University. 

In 1962 Fred joined the faculty at Ithaca College, where he continued to teach until his retirement in 2001. During his 39 years on the faculty, Fred taught a wide range of courses including Public Speaking, Voice and Diction, Acting, Playwriting, the Theory of Comedy and Tragedy, Aesthetics and Criticism. Alongside teaching, Fred directed over 100 plays at Ithaca College, including Mrs. Satan, a script he co-wrote with Jane Jerome Camhi in 1978. For many years, Fred served as the artistic director and producer of The Vineyard Players, a summer theater company on Martha’s Vineyard that provided Ithaca College drama students with real-life opportunities to enhance their training. In 1972 he led a group of students on a USO tour of Greenland, Labrador and Newfoundland to perform the award-winning musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

In his director’s notes from his last show at Ithaca College, The Imaginary Invalid, Fred reflected: 

I have always marveled at the fact that I have been allowed to spend my time doing the things I most enjoy. It has been a time when dreams could be seen as possibilities and possibilities could become realities. But the heart of the experience remains the work done with young adults. Helping to develop talented students and watching their efforts turn them into skilled performers have been the great reward semester after semester. 

In recognition of his contributions to Ithaca College, Fred was invited to serve as the Commencement College Marshal (1997-2001). Following his retirement, he continued his service to the College as Professor Emeritus of Theatre Arts (2009-2010) and was honored with an acting studio in the Dillingham Center for Theater and Dance that bears his name. His director scripts from 1962-1999 are preserved in the Ithaca College Library Archives. 

Fred was a devoted and loving husband and father. His family fondly remembers that, in addition to his passion for theater, Fred loved living in Ithaca, walking the Cornell Arboretum with his dog Max, traveling (including in mainland Europe, Ireland, England, Scandinavia, Australia and New Zealand), photography, reading history, literature, and poetry, and listening to jazz, classical, and contemporary music. He enjoyed a hot cup of coffee, a sweet confection, a gin martini, sitting by a warm fire, festive gatherings and faithfully tending to an heirloom spotted begonia that originally belonged to his Great Aunt Lola. 

In addition to his parents, Fred was preceded in death by his wife Sally Seitz Pritt, older brother Richard L. Pritt, younger sister Nancy Ann Atkinson and brother-in-law William L. Smith. 

Fred is survived by his youngest sister Linda Smith, brother-in-law Steve Atkinson, son James Frederick Pritt Jr., daughter Kathryn Fittipaldi, son-in-law Michael Fittipaldi, nephews Mark Atkinson and Billy Smith, niece Cindy Pritt Stoll and two grandchildren, Cameron Pritt and Padraig Fittipaldi. 

In lieu of flowers we request that you make a donation in Fred’s name to the Ithaca College Center for Theater and Dance at ithaca.edu/giving or to a charity of your choice.