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Sacramento Native Killed
at Boy Scout Jamboree |
A man born and raised
in Sacramento was one of the four Boy Scout leaders killed in
an accident at the National Jamboree in Virginia.
Ron
Bitzer, 58, was one of the leaders helping set up a dining
tent at Fort A.P. Hill. The center pole got stuck, and the
four men were inside the tent trying to put it in place when
it touched a power line. Bitzer died at the
scene.
Bitzer's cousin, Margaret, said he had been a
scout for 50 years, starting when he was growing up as an only
child in Sacramento. "He didn't have playmates, and I think
for him Boy Scouts was that kind of extended family," she
said.
After graduating from Sacramento High School,
Bitzer went on to McGeorge Law School. He married and moved to
Anchorage, Alaska where he was a state administrative law
judge. He and his two sons participated in scouting. Bitzer
and his wife own a home in Truckee and planned to move there
permanently.
"[His wife] said that she was so happy
that the boys were with him enough years that he has imprinted
them," Margaret Bitzer said.
According to the
Anchorage Daily News, Bitzer had a reputation for being
experienced and cautious. He was known as a planner and had an
eye for details. He reportedly had complained about the tent
the four men were erecting because it was going to be more
difficult to put up than promised.
The U.S. Army's
Criminal Investigation Command and the Boy Scouts are
investigating the deaths. |
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Story created
7/27/2005 - 7:52 AM Last
updated 7/27/2005 - 12:35 PM |
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