Jun 26, 2009  |  By: Staff & Wire Reports  | COMMENTS     

Witt Guise Pratt, a lifelong Washington-area resident, died May 20 of sleep apnea at a mountain cabin near his home in Winchester, Va., according to family members. He was 48.

Pratt, who was gay, left his job as a legal secretary at the Washington firm of Nixon Peabody in 2002 to pursue volunteer work and his passions. A nationally heralded knitter, he was a Crafts Yarn Council-certified teacher and could often be seen with his needles and yarn in coffee houses, museums, churches and other locales in Washington and Northern Virginia. Pratt was also a spirited drag queen and a member of the Academy of Washington, a center for drag queens and fans. A fluent German speaker, Pratt volunteered at the International Visitor’s and Information Service at Dulles Airport.

“Witt had in his life what few even begin to find — peace,” said Judi Kauffman, a friend. “And the ability to spread it like soft butter on fresh bread.”

Gary Wilt, Pratt’s partner of nine years, described him as “fiercely loving, funny and just one of the kindest men I have ever known.”

Pratt, a 1978 graduate of Langley High school in McLean, completed his studies in 1985 at George Washington University. He is survived by his partner, Wilt, of Winchester, Va.; his mother, Bobbye Pratt, a retired Washington Post researcher, of Arlington, Va.; and his sister Kelly Pratt of Austin, Texas. His father, George Pratt, is deceased.