Funeral arrangements for Burlington diver Scott Stitt this week
August 22, 2017
Burlington Post
Article by: John Bkila
Link to article: Funeral arrangements for Burlington diver Scott Stitt this week
This photo of Scott Stitt was posted on Facebook by Ryan Parkevich on Stitt's profile page. The 52-year-old Burlington diver died in Joseph Brant Hospital on Aug. 16 after an Aug. 9 diving accident on Lake Superior. - Facebook photo
Dozens have taken to social media to remember the life of renowned Burlington deep water diver Scott Stitt after hearing of his passing on Aug. 16.
The 52-year-old resident, and husband to Jodi Skeates, suffered a “catastrophic anoxic brain injury while
performing a deep water dive to the Judge Hart shipwreck (at 60-metres) in northern Lake Superior,” on Aug. 9, according to an obituary on the Smiths Funeral Home website.
The CBC reported Stitt was diving with four others from Ohio when he experienced problems underwater and went unconscious.
It’s still unknown what caused the incident, however, police is still investigating.
Stitt was taken to Ontario hospitals in Marathon and Thunder Bay, and then to Burlington’s Joseph Brant Hospital, where he died.
Funeral visitations at Smith’s Funeral Home, 1167 Guelph Line, will take place tomorrow (Wednesday) from 7-9 p.m., and Thursday (Aug. 24) from 3-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.
A funeral service to celebrate Stitt’s life will be held in the chapel on Friday (Aug. 25) at 10:30 a.m., to be followed by a private cremation.
Donations in Stitt’s memory can be made to Boxer Rescue of Ontario, a non-profit charitable organization dedicated to placing abandoned, injured or sick boxer dogs in loving homes in Ontario, or Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an international non-profit marine wildlife conservation organization with the mission to end the destruction of habitat and slaughter of wildlife in the world’s oceans.
According to his Facebook page and obituary, Stitt was a 27-year veteran of the Toronto Fire Department, working his way up to acting captain, and an accomplished underwater photojournalist/videographer.“He was one of the few people (including Jacques Cousteau) to locate and explore the 1813 wrecks of the Hamilton and Scourge (ships), which sit at a depth of 300 feet in Lake Ontario,” stated the obituary.
The exploration and documentation of Stitt’s team was featured in the 2013 film Shipwrecked on a Great Lake.
Stitt was also the recipient of numerous underwater photo awards.
“Scott was a tireless ocean and environmental activist, avid traveler, and lover of marine, wild, and domestic animals,” Stitt’s obituary read.
“He remains the most fascinating and kindhearted man who feared living a life of mediocrity and instead lived life to its fullest and did his best everyday make a difference in the lives of others and the world we live in.”
Several people took to Facebook to post photos of Stitt and their words of condolence and remembrance.
Ryan Parkevich, of Columbus, OH, posted on, “My beloved friend Scott Stitt left this world today. I knew the minute I met him 17 years ago he was one of the good guys. I didn't know then that he was actually the best of them.
“Even though we didn't get to see each other as often as we would have preferred, his loss leaves a chasm of emptiness for not just me, but the many, many people who loved him and understood what a truly special person he was, most especially his equally amazing wife Jodi Skeates…,” Parkevich continued.
“The depth of my grief and guilt is immeasurable. Scott, I love you my friend and I will miss you forever.”
In a post also dated Aug. 16, Dan Lindsay, of Brantford, wrote:
“It's with great sadness I hear of the passing of a terrific friend, Scott Stitt tonight. The world is now missing an astounding underwater explorer, loving husband to Jodi, great friend to so many and a mighty dog lover. My times with Scott were in the underwater world on shipwrecks and the tropics with Scott and Jennifer Smith.
“The most exciting dive of my career was with Scott Stitt diving the Scourge. We did tandem video coverage of the wreck sharing our powerful lights and capturing some epic video of an 1812 warship no one else had ever visited in scuba and still hasn't to date…. I always remember how happy Scott was the day we found both wrecks on the sonar…. I'm really going to miss you buddy. We all are.”
Joyce Lindsay posted, on Aug. 20, a composite sketch she did of Stitt and his work as a firefighter from 1996, noting he was one of her favourite people and she was pleased to create the composite for him.
On Aug. 18, Arturo Peña posted a photo of a dive he took that dive in dedicated to Stitt.
“The peace that we seek on the ocean be with you on this transformation... till the next dive buddy RIP,” he wrote.