George B. Fitch

{{for|the author of the same name|George Helgesen Fitch}}

{{short description|Chinese-born American politician}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2019}}

{{Infobox person

| name = George B. Fitch

| party = Republican

| occupation = Businessman, politician

| birth_date= February 7, 1948

| birth_place= Canton, China

| death_date= {{death date and age|2014|12|30|1948|2|7}}

| death_place=Falls Church, Virginia, US

}}

George Bradley Fitch (February 7, 1948 – December 30, 2014) was a Chinese-born American business consultant and Republican politician. He served four consecutive terms as the mayor of Warrenton, Virginia, for a total of 16 years, before retiring in June 2014. He ran in the 2005 Republican primary for the governorship of Virginia, a race which he lost to Jerry Kilgore. Having long had ties to Jamaica, Fitch was one of the co-founders of the Jamaican Bobsled Team for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary. Determined to achieve what most dismissed as impossible, Fitch's success inspired the Disney film Cool Runnings. In 2007 he proposed that his town generate all of its energy from methane released from a nearby landfill.Somashekhar, Sandhya. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/11/AR2007031101563.html "Grand-Thinking Va. Mayor Seeks Town's Energy Independence."] The Washington Post In 2010 he authored the book A Pathway To Local Energy Independence.{{Cite news | title =A Pathway To Local Energy Independence | periodical =Local Energy Independence, LLC | url =http://localenergyindependence.com | access-date =December 26, 2019 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180626001324/http://localenergyindependence.com/ | archive-date =June 26, 2018 | url-status =dead }}

Fitch was born of a missionary family in Canton, China, during the Chinese Revolution. His father had served with the OSS behind the lines during the Japanese invasion and with Chenault's Flying Tigers. His grandfather George Ashmore Fitch, who came to China in 1906 to follow his father as a missionary, was serving as the head of Nanjing YMCA when the Japanese invaded. He joined the Nanking Safety Zone Committee and acted as its administrative director during the Rape of Nanking, documenting atrocities and appealing to the Japanese embassy to restore order.{{Cite web|url=https://www.facinghistory.org/nanjing-atrocities/atrocities/hell-earth-george-fitch|title=Hell on Earth: George Fitch|website=Facing History and Ourselves|access-date=26 September 2016}} He later wrote a book entitled My Eighty Years in China.

After leaving China, Fitch was raised in India and Singapore, where he graduated from the Singapore American School.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sas.edu.sg/cf_news/view.cfm?newsid=943|title=News Post|website=sas.edu.sg|access-date=26 September 2016}} He attended the University of Singapore (now the National University of Singapore) for two years, and then returned to the U.S. He graduated with a B.A. in economics from the College of Wooster, Ohio and earned an MBA in International Business from George Washington University.{{Cite web|url=http://www.fauquiernow.com/index.php/fauquier_news/article/fauquier-former-warrenton-mayor-george-fitch-dies-2014|title=Former Warrenton mayor George Fitch dies of cancer|access-date=26 September 2016|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031023/http://www.fauquiernow.com/index.php/fauquier_news/article/Fauquier-former-warrenton-mayor-george-fitch-dies-2014|url-status=dead}} Fitch worked for many years as a Foreign and Commercial Service Officer with the U.S. Department of Commerce. During the Reagan Administration, he was The Commerce Department's chief implementation official for The Caribbean Basin Initiative, travelling to almost every Caribbean and Caribbean Rim nation, meeting with Finance and Trade officials, and, occasionally, heads of State. He spoke several languages.{{Citation needed|date=June 2022}}

Fitch died of cancer on December 30, 2014, at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia. He was 66.{{Cite news | title = Former Warrenton mayor George Fitch dies of cancer | periodical = Fauquier Now | url = http://www.fauquiernow.com/index.php/fauquier_news/article/Fauquier-former-warrenton-mayor-george-fitch-dies-2014 | access-date = December 31, 2014 | archive-date = March 4, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031023/http://www.fauquiernow.com/index.php/fauquier_news/article/Fauquier-former-warrenton-mayor-george-fitch-dies-2014 | url-status = dead }}