Marion "Babs" Hodges Fitch was the 4th child (of 8) & 4th daughter (of 7) of George Schuyler Hodges and Agnes Idaline Bacon, and grew up amid the activity of her father's pursuits at Pine Lake and the Automobile Club of Detroit there, and wintering in Ocean Springs, MS.
She married attorney Ferris Humphrey Fitch on a Tuesday night, on 21 June of 1921 at her parent's home on Pine Lake.
Ferris was a captain in the U.S. Army in France in 1918-1919, and coincident with his service there also earned the Legion of Honor from the French Government. He later became Lt. Gov. of Michigan from 1932-33 under Gov. William Comstock.
They went on to have a family of five, two girls and three boys.
A newspaper article, "Mrs. Ferris Fitch of Merriweather Road", by Olive H. Henry in 1947 said in part:
"It was natural the Mrs. Fitch should turn to painting as a means of expression, being the daughter of the well known artist, George Hodges, Sr. She grew up in a household that was the gathering place of many artists, and she laughingly remarked that she and her six sisters rarely sat down to read or knit but that some artist would ask them "to hold that pose."
Mrs. Fitch studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design in New York. Among her teachers were Louis Mors, Paul Vincent Dumond and George Bellows. Due to her father and his friends she was greatly influenced by "the old school" of painting.
She returned to Detroit with the desire to have a career in commercial art. Her first commission was to design a page to be used in the New York, Chicago and Detroit theatre programs advertising a chemical product. At this point Cupid entered the picture and that was the end of the commercial art career. Mrs. Fitch says that she knows that she would never have been great artist and that her career as a wife and mother has been so much more worthwhile that she had never regretted her decision to give up commercial art for matrimony. Her five children were the inspiration for many pictures during their growing up period.
For the past four years, Mrs. Fitch has been on the board of Fine Arts section of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. She is a charter member of the Grosse Pointe Artists Association and some years ago when they exhibited at the Neighborhood Club won several blue ribbons. She has also exhibited her oils, mostly landscapes, in Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Ann Arbor, and has sold several. Mrs. Fitch feels that the greatest progress will be made by putting into practice by painting, one's understanding of the fundamentals of art.
During the war she put aside her painting and devoted herself to serving the soldiers. In the spring of 1942 the Grosse Pointe Hostess Corps was formed and Mrs. Fitch was asked to be chairman of the Grosse Pointe area. In two and one half years Mrs. Fitch billeted between 1200 and 1300 servicemen. The majority of these were serving in the R.A.F. and the Fleet Air Corps. They came from England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. She felt that the real need was for those boys to meet and know American people in good American homes and that it would result in mutual understanding and tolerance between the British and American boys and help to make the future peace. All during the war her own home was filled every weekend and many of the boys return to their Grosse Pointe billets when they had the opportunity, even after they had left this vicinity. One of Mrs. Fitch's guests returned from Pensacola to spend a seven day leave in her home.
Mrs. Fitch is well known for her love of children, not only her own but other people's; this is her first interest, after her family, needless to say, and then come painting and gardening. Her great grandmother and grandfather, with their Indians, blazed the trail from Detroit to Pontiac. She remembers her grandmother telling of being chased by wolves in the country which is now Royal Oak. Her father lives in the home which has been in the family for 65 years, and owned the first automobile in Oakland county, a "Searchmont."
With Mrs. Fitch's background it is easy to understand why she may be classified as a "doer" and how she has made not only her own life interesting, but helped others too."
She is much missed...
She married attorney Ferris Humphrey Fitch on a Tuesday night, on 21 June of 1921 at her parent's home on Pine Lake.
Ferris was a captain in the U.S. Army in France in 1918-1919, and coincident with his service there also earned the Legion of Honor from the French Government. He later became Lt. Gov. of Michigan from 1932-33 under Gov. William Comstock.
They went on to have a family of five, two girls and three boys.
A newspaper article, "Mrs. Ferris Fitch of Merriweather Road", by Olive H. Henry in 1947 said in part:
"It was natural the Mrs. Fitch should turn to painting as a means of expression, being the daughter of the well known artist, George Hodges, Sr. She grew up in a household that was the gathering place of many artists, and she laughingly remarked that she and her six sisters rarely sat down to read or knit but that some artist would ask them "to hold that pose."
Mrs. Fitch studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design in New York. Among her teachers were Louis Mors, Paul Vincent Dumond and George Bellows. Due to her father and his friends she was greatly influenced by "the old school" of painting.
She returned to Detroit with the desire to have a career in commercial art. Her first commission was to design a page to be used in the New York, Chicago and Detroit theatre programs advertising a chemical product. At this point Cupid entered the picture and that was the end of the commercial art career. Mrs. Fitch says that she knows that she would never have been great artist and that her career as a wife and mother has been so much more worthwhile that she had never regretted her decision to give up commercial art for matrimony. Her five children were the inspiration for many pictures during their growing up period.
For the past four years, Mrs. Fitch has been on the board of Fine Arts section of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. She is a charter member of the Grosse Pointe Artists Association and some years ago when they exhibited at the Neighborhood Club won several blue ribbons. She has also exhibited her oils, mostly landscapes, in Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Ann Arbor, and has sold several. Mrs. Fitch feels that the greatest progress will be made by putting into practice by painting, one's understanding of the fundamentals of art.
During the war she put aside her painting and devoted herself to serving the soldiers. In the spring of 1942 the Grosse Pointe Hostess Corps was formed and Mrs. Fitch was asked to be chairman of the Grosse Pointe area. In two and one half years Mrs. Fitch billeted between 1200 and 1300 servicemen. The majority of these were serving in the R.A.F. and the Fleet Air Corps. They came from England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. She felt that the real need was for those boys to meet and know American people in good American homes and that it would result in mutual understanding and tolerance between the British and American boys and help to make the future peace. All during the war her own home was filled every weekend and many of the boys return to their Grosse Pointe billets when they had the opportunity, even after they had left this vicinity. One of Mrs. Fitch's guests returned from Pensacola to spend a seven day leave in her home.
Mrs. Fitch is well known for her love of children, not only her own but other people's; this is her first interest, after her family, needless to say, and then come painting and gardening. Her great grandmother and grandfather, with their Indians, blazed the trail from Detroit to Pontiac. She remembers her grandmother telling of being chased by wolves in the country which is now Royal Oak. Her father lives in the home which has been in the family for 65 years, and owned the first automobile in Oakland county, a "Searchmont."
With Mrs. Fitch's background it is easy to understand why she may be classified as a "doer" and how she has made not only her own life interesting, but helped others too."
She is much missed...
Marion "Babs" Hodges Fitch was the 4th child (of 8) & 4th daughter (of 7) of George Schuyler Hodges and Agnes Idaline Bacon, and grew up amid the activity of her father's pursuits at Pine Lake and the Automobile Club of Detroit there, and wintering in Ocean Springs, MS.
She married attorney Ferris Humphrey Fitch on a Tuesday night, on 21 June of 1921 at her parent's home on Pine Lake.
Ferris was a captain in the U.S. Army in France in 1918-1919, and coincident with his service there also earned the Legion of Honor from the French Government. He later became Lt. Gov. of Michigan from 1932-33 under Gov. William Comstock.
They went on to have a family of five, two girls and three boys.
A newspaper article, "Mrs. Ferris Fitch of Merriweather Road", by Olive H. Henry in 1947 said in part:
"It was natural the Mrs. Fitch should turn to painting as a means of expression, being the daughter of the well known artist, George Hodges, Sr. She grew up in a household that was the gathering place of many artists, and she laughingly remarked that she and her six sisters rarely sat down to read or knit but that some artist would ask them "to hold that pose."
Mrs. Fitch studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design in New York. Among her teachers were Louis Mors, Paul Vincent Dumond and George Bellows. Due to her father and his friends she was greatly influenced by "the old school" of painting.
She returned to Detroit with the desire to have a career in commercial art. Her first commission was to design a page to be used in the New York, Chicago and Detroit theatre programs advertising a chemical product. At this point Cupid entered the picture and that was the end of the commercial art career. Mrs. Fitch says that she knows that she would never have been great artist and that her career as a wife and mother has been so much more worthwhile that she had never regretted her decision to give up commercial art for matrimony. Her five children were the inspiration for many pictures during their growing up period.
For the past four years, Mrs. Fitch has been on the board of Fine Arts section of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. She is a charter member of the Grosse Pointe Artists Association and some years ago when they exhibited at the Neighborhood Club won several blue ribbons. She has also exhibited her oils, mostly landscapes, in Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Ann Arbor, and has sold several. Mrs. Fitch feels that the greatest progress will be made by putting into practice by painting, one's understanding of the fundamentals of art.
During the war she put aside her painting and devoted herself to serving the soldiers. In the spring of 1942 the Grosse Pointe Hostess Corps was formed and Mrs. Fitch was asked to be chairman of the Grosse Pointe area. In two and one half years Mrs. Fitch billeted between 1200 and 1300 servicemen. The majority of these were serving in the R.A.F. and the Fleet Air Corps. They came from England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. She felt that the real need was for those boys to meet and know American people in good American homes and that it would result in mutual understanding and tolerance between the British and American boys and help to make the future peace. All during the war her own home was filled every weekend and many of the boys return to their Grosse Pointe billets when they had the opportunity, even after they had left this vicinity. One of Mrs. Fitch's guests returned from Pensacola to spend a seven day leave in her home.
Mrs. Fitch is well known for her love of children, not only her own but other people's; this is her first interest, after her family, needless to say, and then come painting and gardening. Her great grandmother and grandfather, with their Indians, blazed the trail from Detroit to Pontiac. She remembers her grandmother telling of being chased by wolves in the country which is now Royal Oak. Her father lives in the home which has been in the family for 65 years, and owned the first automobile in Oakland county, a "Searchmont."
With Mrs. Fitch's background it is easy to understand why she may be classified as a "doer" and how she has made not only her own life interesting, but helped others too."
She is much missed...
She married attorney Ferris Humphrey Fitch on a Tuesday night, on 21 June of 1921 at her parent's home on Pine Lake.
Ferris was a captain in the U.S. Army in France in 1918-1919, and coincident with his service there also earned the Legion of Honor from the French Government. He later became Lt. Gov. of Michigan from 1932-33 under Gov. William Comstock.
They went on to have a family of five, two girls and three boys.
A newspaper article, "Mrs. Ferris Fitch of Merriweather Road", by Olive H. Henry in 1947 said in part:
"It was natural the Mrs. Fitch should turn to painting as a means of expression, being the daughter of the well known artist, George Hodges, Sr. She grew up in a household that was the gathering place of many artists, and she laughingly remarked that she and her six sisters rarely sat down to read or knit but that some artist would ask them "to hold that pose."
Mrs. Fitch studied at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design in New York. Among her teachers were Louis Mors, Paul Vincent Dumond and George Bellows. Due to her father and his friends she was greatly influenced by "the old school" of painting.
She returned to Detroit with the desire to have a career in commercial art. Her first commission was to design a page to be used in the New York, Chicago and Detroit theatre programs advertising a chemical product. At this point Cupid entered the picture and that was the end of the commercial art career. Mrs. Fitch says that she knows that she would never have been great artist and that her career as a wife and mother has been so much more worthwhile that she had never regretted her decision to give up commercial art for matrimony. Her five children were the inspiration for many pictures during their growing up period.
For the past four years, Mrs. Fitch has been on the board of Fine Arts section of the Michigan Academy of Science, Arts and Letters. She is a charter member of the Grosse Pointe Artists Association and some years ago when they exhibited at the Neighborhood Club won several blue ribbons. She has also exhibited her oils, mostly landscapes, in Detroit, Grosse Pointe and Ann Arbor, and has sold several. Mrs. Fitch feels that the greatest progress will be made by putting into practice by painting, one's understanding of the fundamentals of art.
During the war she put aside her painting and devoted herself to serving the soldiers. In the spring of 1942 the Grosse Pointe Hostess Corps was formed and Mrs. Fitch was asked to be chairman of the Grosse Pointe area. In two and one half years Mrs. Fitch billeted between 1200 and 1300 servicemen. The majority of these were serving in the R.A.F. and the Fleet Air Corps. They came from England, Australia, New Zealand and Canada. She felt that the real need was for those boys to meet and know American people in good American homes and that it would result in mutual understanding and tolerance between the British and American boys and help to make the future peace. All during the war her own home was filled every weekend and many of the boys return to their Grosse Pointe billets when they had the opportunity, even after they had left this vicinity. One of Mrs. Fitch's guests returned from Pensacola to spend a seven day leave in her home.
Mrs. Fitch is well known for her love of children, not only her own but other people's; this is her first interest, after her family, needless to say, and then come painting and gardening. Her great grandmother and grandfather, with their Indians, blazed the trail from Detroit to Pontiac. She remembers her grandmother telling of being chased by wolves in the country which is now Royal Oak. Her father lives in the home which has been in the family for 65 years, and owned the first automobile in Oakland county, a "Searchmont."
With Mrs. Fitch's background it is easy to understand why she may be classified as a "doer" and how she has made not only her own life interesting, but helped others too."
She is much missed...
Family Members
Siblings
Children
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
