Richard B. Hitt, 71, cared for dogs

Richard B. Hitt of Ridgefield, longtime operator of The Yankee Clipper and a former assistant dog warden, died Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2004, at his home after a long illness. He was 71 years old and the huband of Carolyn Bardin Hitt.
A native of the Noroton Heights section of Darien, Dick Hitt was born on Aug. 7, 1933, a son of Ruth Scribner Hitt and Gilbert W. Hitt. He grew up in Darien and graduated from Darien High School in 1951.
His long association with dogs began at the age of 12, when he went to work for a Darien kennel. While still a teenager, he served as a junior handler for the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden.
After high school, he worked for the Schulhof Animal Hospital in Westport and then became manager of its subsidiary, The Kennel.
“Dogs were in his blood from an early age,” said his wife. “Since he was 12, he hardly knew what a summer vacation was, and what a weekend off was.”
He met Carolyn Bardin, who is from upstate New York, in Darien, and they were married in 1959. They lived in Darien until 1962 when the couple moved to Ridgefield.
In 1974, the Hitts opened The Yankee Clipper grooming shop on Route 7. The shop marked its 30th anniversary last March.
“Over the years of The Yankee Clipper, he made many friends,” Carolyn Hitt said. “He had a charisma — and the dogs knew it. They would just walk into the cage and wag their tail.”
He was one of the few people who would also groom cats.
Mr. Hitt had also served as assistant canine control officer in Ridgefield from 1982 to 1992. “He did that with one hand and groomed dogs with the other,” said his wife.
Over the years he had been a lieutenant in the Darien Volunteer Fire Department, and did stage lighting for the Troupers Light Opera in Darien, Stamford Showcase Theatre, and for the Charles Pope Choristers of Ridgefield. He learned the craft from an old vaudeville lighting expert who had lived in Darien when Mr. Hitt was a boy.
For many years the Hitt family was famous with Route 7 travelers for the elaborate Halloween displays they set up each year at their home.
Mrs. Hitt said that the family wished “to express our gratefulness for the patience and understanding of our customers during his long illness. They are not just customers coming in with a dog, they meant much more than that.
“His customers were his family,” she added. “His closest friends were his customers.”
Besides his wife, Mr. Hitt is survived by a daughter, Catherine Mead and her husband Dennis of Sandy Hook; a son, Dan Hitt and his wife Laramie of Middlebury; and five grandchildren, Gregory, Steven and Michael Mead, all of Sandy Hook, and Amber and Eben Hitt of Middlebury.
Calling hours will take place next week at the Bouton Funeral Home at a time to be announced; call 544-8461 for information.
Contributions in his memory may be made to the Ridgefield Fire Department Ambulance Fund, 6 Catoonah Street, Ridgefield 06877.