Those who knew sociology major James “Jimmy” Pitcher said his sense of giving and compassion defined his life both before and throughout college.
“Anytime he knew someone needed help in any way, he was the first to jump into action,” said his sister Lilly Gorman.“He was a compassionate person who truly cared about what was best for others before himself.”
David Ashenhart, Jimmy Pitcher’s best friend since middle school, said he was personable to all.
“He loved everybody and there was nothing he ever really did wrong,” Ashenhart said. “Hell, he didn’t even start cursing until he was like 19.”
While Jimmy Pitcher had a passion for everything he did, he was particularly passionate about cooking for his friends.
Richard Tran, a molecular and cell biology senior, was Jimmy Pitcher’s good friend from high school and roommate at A&M. He said he remembers a delicious Irish beer braised stew that Jimmy Pitcher cooked for everyone after the A&M-Alabama game.
“Jimmy, he loved cooking — that was one thing — he was a great cook,” Tran said. “He described it to me one time, when I asked him, ‘Jimmy, how do you know what to put in the pot?’ or whatever, and he described to me that he would taste it and it was almost like seeing the different tastes.”
Jimmy Pitcher, Tran, Ashenhart and their friend Jinwoo Kim all came to College Station together out of high school. Ashenhart said they would all spend hours together playing the board game Settlers of Catan or the video game Rock Band.
“And we always played Rock Band together — that was our thing,” Ashenhart said. “He had this electronic drum set we hooked up and it made it even more fun to play and we just always rocked out and did that.”
Gorman said one of her favorite memories of Jimmy Pitcher was after he returned from a camping trip with his father when he was about 3 years old.
“My mom found him on the front walk just peeing without any shame,” Gorman said. “When she asked him why he did it, he just replied that he was ‘camping.’”
Ashenhart said if he could use one word to describe Jimmy Pitcher it would be resilient.
“He never gave up,” Ashenhart said. “He always — if he wanted to do something, dammit, he did it. He always made sure that he was going to accomplish what he wanted.”
Tran said he aspires to emulate Jimmy Pitcher’s compassion and his desire to learn.
“I would say he was essentially a role model for me,” Tran said. “He actually would say the opposite … I never told him this, and I regret it but I would actually look up to him.”