A former superintendent of the public school systems of Kanawha, Randolph and Harrison counties died Monday at 81.
Robert Earl Kittle died at a Bridgeport nursing home after a long illness, according to his obituary, which says he led Kanawha County Schools from 1978 to 1984 before spending one year as head of Randolph's system. He left Randolph to become Harrison's superintendent, a post he held for 15 years.
After being turned down for the job of state schools superintendent, he retired from Harrison in 2000 after 43 years in public education.
The Kanawha school board voted 3-2 in December 1983 to not renew Kittle's contract, a move he attributed to controversy over his push to consolidate schools. He had taken his first teaching job at Kanawha's Belle Elementary and had worked in the county for 22 years.
Kittle - facing declining student enrollment and decreasing state funding, problems seen across the state to this day - oversaw the Harrison school system during consolidations there.
"In Harrison County, people credit county schools Superintendent Robert Kittle with a laundry list of advances," Chris Miller wrote in a 1993 Charleston Gazette article. "They say he's the reason voters passed a multimillion-dollar school bond for the first time in county history. He's also made it possible to consolidate high schools and introduce innovative vocational and health programs. Test scores have gone up, too."
The 1993 article noted Kanawha had gone through four more superintendents following Kittle's departure, and wrote that Kittle said he often got letters and calls from people wanting him to return.
Kittle's obituary said he was on "numerous community boards and councils," including the West Virginia United Health System board of directors, Alderson Broaddus University Board of Governors, Fairmont State University Board of Governors, West Virginia Workforce Development Council, West Virginia Rural Development Council and the West Virginia Association of School Administrators.
He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Marianna Arthur Kittle, son, R. Matthew Kittle of Bridgeport, and daughter, Marian Kittle Price of Fairmont, as well as three grandchildren and other family members.
The funeral will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at Simpson Creek Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial contributions to the Harrison County Student Achievement Program. Make donations payable to HCBE - Student Achievement Program, P.O. Box 1370, Clarksburg, WV 26302-1370 or to Simpson Creek Baptist Church Building Fund, 231 Philadelphia Avenue, Bridgeport, WV 26330.
See obituary, Page 6A.