Brian P. Mitchell ’70 died on May 29, 2026, in Brasstown, North Carolina.
(The following was provided by the Ivie Funeral Home on May 29, 2026:)
Brian Patrick Mitchell ’70
Brian Patrick Mitchell of Brasstown died at home on May 29, 2026, with his family by his side, after surviving four years with cancer.
Brian was born on August 21, 1948, in Lynn, Massachusetts, and his childhood included pick-up baseball games, trips to Cape Cod and work at the family’s Irish pub, the Harp and Bard. He attended St. Mary’s School, later being inducted into the Hall of Fame for lifetime achievements, and Bowdoin College, where he graduated cum laude. After attaining Alpha Omega Alpha honors from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, he completed his residency in internal medicine at Boston City Hospital, where he met nurse Nancy Troxler.
Brian and Nancy fell in love with the mountains of North Carolina in 1976 through a placement from the National Health Service Corps program. Brian joined Chatuge Family Practice in Hayesville and Nancy travelled across counties providing home health nursing via the Good Shepherd Home Health Agency.
The two eventually settled in Brasstown, where they lived for over forty years, raising daughters Kate and Anna. Brian cared for generations of the Cherokee County community at Peachtree Internal Medicine Clinic, becoming deeply committed to his patients, often working late to deliver results of lab tests over the phone or to handwrite letters to those who had lost loved ones.
He understood medicine as one part of community health and well-being, and he worked tirelessly to improve Cherokee County outside his clinic. As a school board member from 1990 to 2008, he advocated for academic rigor, building improvements and equitable policies for students and staff. Believing that Murphy needed a pool, he led a small committee which secured over two million dollars for the creation of the facility now called Murphy Health and Fitness.
He served on the board of directors for multiple organizations, including the McClure Foundation, the Hiwassee Valley Recreational Foundation and the Dogwood Trust. In 2022, Brian received the Order of the Longleaf Pine from Roy Cooper for his service to North Carolina, the highest honor the state’s governor can award.
Brian was a beloved member of a large extended family, and was preceded in death by his parents Chris and Anne Mitchell. Surviving are his wife of forty-five years, Nancy, daughters Anna (husband David) and Kate (partner Taylor), granddaughter Ivy, sister Jeanne, brothers Kevin and Chris, cousin Patricia, as well as nieces and nephews Philip, Kathleen, Grace, Christopher, and Richard.