Retired County Administrator Haywood Pritchett Dies

Haywood C. Pritchett, a retired Orange County health administrator who, as an ordained minister, officiated at the weddings of countless co-workers, died during surgery last week. He was 61.

Pritchett retired in March, having worked in various departments during his 27 years with the county, including the Social Services Agency, the Mental Health Department and the Human Services Agency.

Widely admired in local government as a deft manager who worked with “inordinate sensitivity,” Pritchett suffered from Parkinson’s disease and severe arthritis during the last several years.

“He was in pain a lot of the time, but he always kept right on going,” said Marianne E. Maxwell, Pritchett’s supervisor at the Health Care Agency. “The courage that man demonstrated was just amazing.”

Donald Tanney, the county’s registrar of voters, said Pritchett was undergoing spinal surgery last Wednesday when he died.

“The last 10 years of his life were extremely difficult because of all his ailments,” Tanney said. “But the man was not a moaner or a whiner. He was a fighter.”

During Pritchett’s years with the county, an untold number of county workers sought out the minister to perform weddings, Tanney and Maxwell said. Pritchett was ordained in the Church of Christ.

“He was a well-known member of the county family who helped start a number of other families, too,” Maxwell said. “He was extremely warm and caring, and that came across in everything he did.”

During his early years with the county, Tanney said, Pritchett was a talented left-handed pitcher and a teammate on county and church-affiliated softball teams.

“We walked a long road together,” Tanney said. “He was a very dear friend of mine.”

A memorial service for Pritchett was held Sunday at the O’Connor Laguna Hills Mortuary. Pritchett is survived by his wife, Nancee, also a county employee; three children, two stepchildren and eight grandchildren.