May 28, 2020 – West Bend, WI – The Washington County Sheriff’s Department and West Bend Police Department will lead a military funeral procession on Friday, May 29 from the Washington County Morgue (lower level of Samaritan Home) to the Myrhum Patten Funeral Home, 1315 W. Washington Street for Navy veteran Petty Officer First Class James V. Pritchett.
The 63-year-old was found dead in his apartment May 14, 2020 in West Bend and his cremated remains went unclaimed.
Chief Deputy Medical Examiner Craig Garbisch discovered Pritchett was a retired Navy veteran and deserved an appropriate send off.
There will be a memorial service at 12:30 p.m. for Petty Officer First Class James V. Pritchett at the Myrhum Patten Funeral Home.
 Greg Young, Germantown Police Chaplain.
West Bend Veterans Color Guard will provide military funeral honors.
“A note of thanks to Craig Garbisch for the work he has done to ensure PO1 Pritchett has an appropriate send off. The work he has done of his own volition and in his own time exemplifies all of the Core Values; Respect, Integrity, Compassion, Collaboration, Innovation and Optimism,” said Robert A. Schafer, Washington County Medical Examiner Lead Investigator.
Schafer said if Garbisch had not stepped in “Pritchett’s body would have likely joined the ranks of the unclaimed.”
James Pritchett was born July 1, 1956. He had a career in the U.S. Navy and reached the highest rank of E6 for a Petty Officer in the Navy. Pritchett served at least 20 years in the U.S. Navy.
Pritchett will be buried at the Southern Wisconsin Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove.
