Tag Archives: Marvin Pritchett

Lake Butler Community Celebrates The Life Of Marvin Pritchett

News, , , , , , ,

By , ,   and on August 30th, 2013

2013-08-30_12-52-23_705
Pictures of Marvin Pritchett in the front of the First Christian Church where the celebration of his life took place on Friday afternoon.

The Lake Butler community mourned the death of Marvin Pritchett on Friday.  Pritchett was a life-long resident of the community and business leader who was shot and killed by former employee Hubert Allen Jr. this past weekend.

More than 1,000 people paid tribute to the life of Marvin Pritchett at the First Christian Church in Lake Butler. The main church was filled to capacity an hour before the ceremony began. Guests who did not get a seat in the main church were redirected to a second building and lawn area where the ceremony was streamed live.

 

2013-08-30_12-58-07_522
Thousands of flowers adorned the front and both sides of the First Christian Church in Lake Butler on Friday.

Thousands of flowers filled the church, including a red rose arrangement that completely draped the casket. Pictures from Mr. Pritchett’s life were projected onto the wall behind the casket as those in attendance waited for family members to arrive.

During the service many of Pritchett’s accomplishments and contributions were highlighted, including his support for Union County Schools, the University of Florida and First Christian Church.

 

2013-08-30_15-49-45_394
Sign on Lake Butler elementary school on Friday reads ‘Our prayers are with the community.’

The ceremony was led by pastor Art Peterson and included thoughts and anecdotes from Pritchett’s family. Jon Pritchett, son of Marvin Pritchett, shared the story of his father’s humble upbringing. Marvin Pritchett was orphaned at the age of 10 and raised by his grandmother.

“What made my dad so remarkable was not that he overcame such hardships, but rather that he never used his circumstances as an excuse,” said Jon Pritchett during his Eulogy.

 

 

2013-08-30_15-30-50_505
Pritchett Trucking vehicle waits to join in funeral procession following the service on Friday afternoon.

Marvin Pritchett founded Pritchett Trucking, Inc. in 1973, a business that expanded to employ hundreds of people in the Lake Butler Area.

Pastor Peterson brought a smile to everyone’s face when he said: “I don’t know if there will be any trucks in heaven’s highways, but if there is, that’s where we’ll find Marvin.”

 

 

 

2013-08-30_15-26-40_850
Flowers with the initials MHP representing Marvin H. Pritchett (1933-2013)

Pritchett left behind 13 grandchildren, seven who spoke at the service in remembrance of their “poppa”. One of his grandkids said “he was large in stature and even larger in life.”

It’s been nearly a week since Hubert Allen, 72, a former employee of Pritchett Trucking, went on the shooting spree that killed three and injured one before turning the gun on himself. Marvin Pritchett, 80, David Griffis, 44, and Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado, 28, were killed and Lewis Mabrey was injured in the shooting.

During the ceremony Pastor Peterson spoke about the tragedy calling it an act of evil, and asking community members to look at the good happening around them.

The Pritchett family has created a victims’ fund at TD Bank in Lake Butler in honor and support of the David Griffis, Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado, and Lewis Mabrey families.

2013-08-30_15-25-55_15

 

Click here to see a Storyboard Summary of the Memorial Service for Marvin Pritchett.

‘Pillar To This Community’ Gone From Union County After Pritchett Trucking Shootings

News, , , , , , , ,

‘Pillar To This Community’ Gone From Union County After Pritchett Trucking Shootings

The entrance to Marvin Pritchett's farm outside Lake Butler in Union County.
The entrance to Marvin Pritchett’s farm outside Lake Butler in Union County.
Jerry Whitehead, Union County sheriff, answers questions at a press conference Monday in Lake Butler.
Jerry Whitehead, Union County sheriff, answers questions at a press conference Monday in Lake Butler.

A 72-year-old Lake Butler man who killed himself after fatally shooting his former boss and a coworker and wounding two others left a hand-written note listing targets, Union County Sheriff Jerry Whitehead said Monday.

Starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Hubert Allen Jr., a longtime employee of Pritchett Trucking Company, sent members of Lake Butler looking for answers after the sheriff’s office said the man drove to several locations in Union County, shot four men and returned to his farm to kill himself.

Whitehead said the sheriff’s office recovered Allen’s “suicide note” Saturday afternoon. It was three-quarters of a page long, Whitehead said, and looked as if it had taken two or three sittings to write.

Investigators at Allen’s home also found a .22 caliber rifle, a .410 small bore shotgun, and an unfired .32 caliber handgun, Whitehead said.

Whitehead said the suicide note contained names of people Allen planned to kill. There was one name listed that Allen did not go after. Whitehead did not release the name, but said his office interviewed the man, and he was fine.

Whitehead said he was shocked by Allen’s behavior.

Allen did not have any previous incidents with the law, Whitehead said.

He never knew Allen to suffer from any kind of mental health disorder, he said, and could not determine a motive.

Three of the men Allen shot were former coworkers at Pritchett Trucking, according to Union County investigators. The fourth was 80-year-old company owner Marvin Pritchett.

The sheriff’s office said Allen shot Pritchett and Rolando Gonzalez-Delgado, 28, killing both men.

Allen worked for Pritchett for 35 years, Whitehead said. Just nine days before the shooting, interviewees told the sheriff’s office, Allen had retired from the company with no issues. The men were described as friends.

One of the wounded men, David Griffis, 44, was in critical condition and the other, Lewis Mabrey Jr., 66, was in good condition at UF Health Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Whitehead said.

To show its support, the community is organizing local blood drives to help Griffis.

“It’s tough,” Whitehead said. “We’re going to get through it.”

James Tallman, a Union County commissioner, said Pritchett’s death leaves a hole in the community.

“Mr. Pritchett was an absolute pillar to this community,” Tallman said, “and we’re going to dearly miss him.”

“We lost not one person,” he said, “but we lost several friends in this community.”

At the foot of the Pritchett parking sign in Lake butler, someone laid a bouquet of eight red roses in the grass to commemorate the victims. Beside them sat a cup of red, white and blue carnations. And to the right, a bundle of purple flowers wilted on the concrete.
At the foot of the Pritchett parking sign in Lake butler, someone laid a bouquet of eight red roses in the grass to commemorate the victims. Beside them sat a cup of red, white and blue carnations. And to the left, a bundle of purple flowers wilted on the concrete.

Tallman said the recovery from the tragedy will be a community-wide struggle.

“I think a lot of prayer is what we need right now,” he said.