Frederick Bartlett Rossiter
9/20/1942 - 3/24/2016 | Marker: Column 17 Row 10
Frederick Bartlett Rossiter, 73, died in Cambridge, England on 24th March 2016 after a long battle with cancer. Fred was the son of Dorothy Bartlett Banghart and Harry Rossiter, both deceased, and a descendant of Col. Tench Tilghman, Washington’s aide-de-camp.
He was the younger brother of Deborah Rossiter Cox of Oxford, MD. Fred and his sister enjoyed a wonderful childhood at Otwell and Clifton in Talbot County. He was one of the earliest group of students at The Country School that his sister, niece, and nephew also attended. Fred was an outstanding athlete and rowed successfully at an international level, first for South Kent School, CT, where he stroked the best US schoolboy four ever to compete at Henley Royal Regatta, and later for Rollins College, FL. He made a lasting impact to crew in the U.S. by helping to introduce a progressive German style of rowing and training following his European experiences. His contribution to rowing was acknowledged by induction in the Rollins College Sports Hall of Fame in 2014, where he has two racing shells named for him. He was a member Undine Barge Club in Philadelphia, PA, for over 50 years.
After Rollins, Fred studied for an MA in Economics at Cambridge University, England, and helped Magdalene College to intercollegiate rowing successes. At Cambridge, Fred met his future wife, Judith Brown, and after a brief stint on Wall Street, he returned to England with Judith to embark on a career in banking in the City of London. It was at their home in Linton, near Cambridge, where Fred’s three children grew up, and where he spent the remainder of his life.
He was diagnosed with mantle cell lymphoma as he turned 60 and, while he successfully battled two further remissions over nearly 14 years, he succumbed to post-surgical complications following colon cancer: probably the greatest race of his life.
He is survived by his wife Judy of 48 years, son Dr. Harry Rossiter of Los Angeles, CA, daughter Kate Rossiter of London, UK, and son Captain Thomas Rossiter of the Coldstream Guards, UK; as well as sister Deborah Cox of Oxford, MD, his nephew, John Shaw of Westport, CT, and niece, Brittain Shaw, of Washington, D.C.
Fred was cremated in Cambridge, England, following which his ashes will be returned to the Eastern Shore to be buried alongside those of his parents at The Third Haven Meeting House in Easton sometime later this summer. An announcement will be made in this paper prior to that service for his extended family and friends on the Shore.