Jack Austin Pitman was born on July 9, 1931 in Sweet Grass, Montana to June and Jack Pitman. He was a man of faith and came to love the lord in his early twenties. Jack passed away peacefully at the Partners in Care Hospice House in Bend on March 27, 2018 due to complications following his heart surgery. Jack was the oldest of seven children. He was raised in Cut Bank, Montana where he chose to drop out of school in the 10th grade to help his mother raise his siblings after the early death of his father. After his father passed he worked various jobs to help his mother support his family.
Jack was proud of the fact he was from Montana and oftentimes talked about his days as a young man working on the farm. Being raised in the prairie land of Montana in a rock house with dirt floors, he jokingly used to say he didn’t believe there was anything west of the Rocky Mountains.
He joined the Army in1953 and was stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington. During his time in the Army, he met Paul Taylor and became very close to the Taylor family. Jack spent most of his weekends with them and was always considered part of the family; he eventually became best friends with Dan Taylor whose friendship lasted the rest of his life.
After being honorably discharged from the Army in 1955 he moved back home to Cut Bank, Montana but after a short period of time he decided to move back to Seattle where he and Dan worked together at the Rath Meat Packing Company. During this time while attending church Jack met the love of his life, Patricia R. Hunt (Pat). They were married on August 8, 1959 in Seattle, Washington. They had two daughters, Debbie and Jaclyn.
In 1967 they moved to Kirkland, Wahington and Jack went to work for the Alaskan Copper Works in Seattle where he worked as a welder/fabricator for 30 years. During this time he was promoted to shop foreman and retired in 1998.
They were snowbirds for 4 years where they lived in Mesa, Arizona during the winter months. In 2003 they moved to LaPine, Oregon and eventually moved to Bend, in 2016.
He loved his family and enjoyed working in his shop. He spent many of his childhood years driving tractors and always had a love for them. He bought his Johnny Popper John Deere and loved driving it around his acreage in LaPine. Given his time working on the farm he could work on most anything. He had a great sense of humor and was always known for saying, “I can fix that.”
.
Jack is survived by his wife of 58 years, Patricia Pitman of Bend, along with his daughter Debbie Therrien, son in law Shannon Therrien, grandsons Jesse and Aaron Therrien and granddaughter in law Heidi Therrien of Sherwood Park, Alberta. Also his daughter Jaclyn Rupert, son in law Ty Rupert, grandsons Brandon Burton and Cole Rupert of Bend, Oregon.
Jack wanted to be remembered for making people laugh. He was a very loving man, a wonderful husband, father, grandfather, and friend and will dearly be missed by all.
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Jack
Austin
Pitman 2018.SOURCE
Death notice for the town of: La Pine, state: OR