Obituaries

Robert Halsey Pettit

Robert Halsey Pettit of Southold died at home Sept. 18, 2015. He was 87. 

Mr. Pettit was born in Brooklyn, May 20, 1928, to Jessie (Young) and Dwight M. Pettit. A graduate of Mercersburg Academy and Lehigh University, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1953 in Key West, Fla.

He then enjoyed a career of 30 years as a mechanical engineer with Sperry Rand (now Unisys). Among his many accomplishments were several patents.

The Pettits lived in Mississippi from 1971 to 1974 and had been residents of Huntington from 1955 to 1988 at which time they moved to Southold.

In the community, he was active in Southold Historical Society and was “Man of the Year” in 2013 and was a volunteer general contractor for the restoration of Brecknock Hall in Greenport. He had also been a member of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greenport where he served as a warden and member of the Vestry.

Surviving is his wife Anne “Nancy” Pettit (née Putnam), whom he married Aug. 19, 1950, in Chatham, N.J; four children: Robert H. Pettit, Jr. (Patricia), Cynthia P. Van Voris (Richard), James C. Pettit (Margaret) and David H. Pettit (Andrea); eleven grandchildren, Nicholas and Edward Schoch, Daniel, Alexander and Amelia Pettit; Steven, Gregory and Michael Pettit and Anne, Connor and Trevor Pettit and a nephew, Dwight M. Pettit, III (Jeanne).

Funeral services will be held Wednesday, Sept. 23, at 1 p.m. at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Greenport, with the Rev. John E. Walker officiating. Interment will follow at First Presbyterian Church Cemetery in Southold.

Memorial donations to East End Hospice, P.O. Box 1048, Westhampton Beach, New York 11978 would be appreciated.

DeFriest-Grattan Funeral Homes is assisting the family.

This is a paid notice.