Hall of Fame
The late Clarence L. "Doc" Vitty was an outstanding three-sport athlete at Norwich, performing in football, basketball, and baseball and earning eight varsity letters. NU's first passing quarterback, he guided the Cadets to three straight shutout wins over Middlebury and added a shutout of UVM in 1918 when the 5-2 Cadets won the Vermont State title. Playing for Coach Wallace "Pop" Peach, Doc Vitty drop-kicked the winning field goal in the Cadet win (10-7) at Boston Univ. in 1919. A two-time letter winner and captain in basketball, Doc also made his mark on the baseball diamond, where he was NU's top pitcher for four years. He went on to a brief professional career, playing two years for the St. Louis Cardinals.
Doc Vitty was extremely active on campus. He was an officer on the Regimental Staff, an editor of The War Whoop, president of the MUsic Club and Alpha-Sigma Pi, and a member of the Glee Club, the Political Science Club, and the Chemistry Club. Doc continued serving his alma mater as life secretary of the class of 1920 nd as president of the NU Alumni Club of Florida.
A reservist while at Norwich during World War I, Doc worked as a chemist before earning a degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic Medicine in Davenport, Iowa in 1925. He then embarked on a thirty-seven-year career as a chiropractic physician in Vermont. Active in his profession and his community, Doc was a member of the Vermont Board of Chiropractic Examiners and president of the Vermont Chiropractic Association. He served St. Johnsbury, Vermont in several capacities: president and charter member of the Kwanis Club, commander of American Legion Post 58, exalted ruler of the Lodge of Elks, and a dean of the South Congregational Church. DOc also wrote, produced and played in variety shows and was a popular toastmaster throughout Vermont. He passed on his love of athletics to local youth as a football, hockey, and baseball coach from the schoolboy level to the semi-pro Northern Baseball League. Doc maintained a lifelong interest in Norwich and its athletic teams and recruited many young student athletes or NU from northern Vermont. Doc Vitty passed away on March 22. 1976 and is survived by his widow, Leota, and their sons Roderic (USMA, '55) and Deland (NU, '52) as well as a grandson, David, a 1989 graduate of Norwich.
