Latham N. "Lay" Fitch, 86, of DeLand, Fla., died Wednesday.

Born in New York, N.Y., in 1921, he was the son of the Rev. Elmer B. and Ione Reynolds Fitch.

He attended Nyack Missionary Training Institute, Nyack, N.Y., now Nyack College, from 1939 to 1942 and was enrolled in Houghton College, Houghton, N.Y., when he enlisted in the Army in 1942. He attained the rank of master sergeant and was stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.

He graduated from Geneva College, Beaver Falls, in 1947 and received a master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh.

He was in public education for 30 years and began his teaching career at South Heights, Pa., and the then taught at the Lutheran Children's Home in Zelienople. He then was the principal at Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School, Zelienople, for 20 years.

Mr. Fitch was involved with lay preaching and music his entire adult life.

In 1981, he and his wife moved to Orlando, Fla., where they lived for 14 years. For the past 12 years, they lived at the Good Samaritan Village in Kissimmee.

Surviving are his wife, Frances Pearl Hughes Fitch, whom he married in 1947; a son, R. Neal Fitch and his wife, Janet Fitch, of Tallahassee, Fla.; and two grandchildren, Michael N. Fitch of Tallahassee and Laura A. Gatlin and her husband, Artie, of Deltona, Fla.

He was preceded in death by his brothers, the Rev. Elmer Fitch and Reginald Fitch.

<B>FITCH </B>— A memorial service for Latham N. "Lay" Fitch, who died Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2008, will be Feb. 9 at the Community Church in Good Samaritan Village, 4250 Village Drive, Kissimmee, Fla.In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Dorm Needs Project/Dakar Academy or the Hospital Projects/Bongolo, c/o The Christian and Missionary Alliance, P.O. Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935-3500 or at www.cmalliance.orgArrangements are being handled by the <B>Osceola Memory Gardens Cemetery, Funeral Homes and Crematory</B>, Kissimmee. Information also is available at www.cmalliance.org