Rev. Robert B. Fichter

Rev. Robert B. Fichter, age 95, of Hampton, Connecticut, husband of Angela H. Fichter, died Nov. 25, 2016, during his sleep.  He was born April 6, 1921 in Hamilton, Ohio, son of Joseph Fichter and Orveda (Beckett) Fichter.  He graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio with a B.S. in education, from Yale Divinity School with a M. Div., and from Yale Graduate School with a M.A.  He taught religion and philosophy at Ohio Wesleyan University from 1949-1969.  He was chairman of the Religion Department for four years.  He served as a Methodist pastor at a number of Methodist churches.  He left college teaching and went into the war against poverty.  From 1969-1970 he was the Director of Education at the Opportunities Industrialization Center in Providence, Rhode Island, which was a black self-help organization.  From 1970-1971 he was the Coordinator of the Adult Learning Center, a Model Cities Program of President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty.  From 1971-1972 he was Executive Director of Self-Help, a community action agency that was part of the War on Poverty.  He then turned back to the church full-time as a pastor, this time as a minister in Congregational churches in Connecticut: from 1972-1976 in South Killingly, from 1976-1983 in Burlington, from 1983-1994 in Scotland, from 1994-2010 as a Pastoral Visitor in Columbia.  He participated in many various community service projects over the decades, including but not limited to: The National Urban League, running as a candidate for the U.S. Congress in the primary of the Democratic Party in the 17th District of Ohio, as advisor to senior groups, in civil rights committees, and by the organization of an interracial nursery school in 1947.  He wrote three books: The Scotland Liturgy – Connecticut Yankees in Liberating Action, If I Have No Love – A Study of Love with Particular Attention to The Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, The Gospel of Love – A Meditation in Four Movements.

     Robert is survived by his wife, Angela Hawkins Fichter and by four children, three by his first wife, namely, Andrew Fichter of Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, Allison Fichter of Canton, Georgia, and Joseph Fichter of Putney, Vermont, and one child by his current wife, namely, James Fichter of Hong Kong.  He has nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

     The memorial service will be held on Saturday, December 10, 2016, at 10:30 AM at the Hampton Congregational Church at 263 Main St. (Route 97), Hampton, Connecticut.  In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in his name to the Hampton Congregational Church at Post Office Box 65, Hampton, CT 06247.

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