Obituary of Johnny Hugh Pitmon

Johnny Hugh Pitmon, 82, died unexpectedly November 6, 2020 at St Thomas Rutherford Hospital. He had been battling cancer but succumbed to kidney failure. He was born August 18, 1938 in Campaign TN, the son of Toy Richard Pitmon and Virgie Cora Pitmon. Johnny graduated from MTSU with a degree in accounting. He served in US Air Force and married Marta Sue Pryor June 7, 1962. They celebrated 58 yrs of marriage. Johnny worked in business and owned 3 businesses including American Mortgage Source in which he served as Regional Vice President. He was a faithful and humble member of North Boulevard Church of Christ in Murfreesboro and Westwood Church of Christ in McMinnville. Johnny was predeceased by his parents. Surviving, in addition to his wife Marta, are their 2 sons Craig Pitmon and Shane Pitmon; grandsons Adam Hugh Pitmon and Paul Richard Pitmon; brother Billy Pitmon, sister Shirley Kelley; adopted family Cheryl and Tony Black, Kindyl & Micah Pitts and 2 great grandchildren; many nieces and nephews. eulogy: written by a family friend Obituaries are an odd thing. They tend to just give you the facts and leave out anything of substance that would remind you of who a person truly is. I hope this time is different, because there’s so much more than the beginning and ending dates. There’s the life that’s lived in between and the love that lives on in our hearts. Those are the things that are harder to put on paper, but the only things that really matter, when all is said and done. I don’t know all there is to know about Papa Johnny, none of us ever will, but what I do know is worth sharing. He was a very charismatic personality, who was hard as a rock, yet soft as butter. He did everything with a drive and desire to succeed. Failure wasn’t an option; even when people weren’t who they claimed to be and circumstances looked devastating, he knew life would not beat him. He just knew it. That’s a strength that held his family together and runs through the veins of his boys and his grandsons. His love for Marta Sue, his wife of 58 years, was unwavering. They met in 1959 at McCallum B Drugstore on Main St. with Dickie Hillis. It was love at first sight for him, but she still had her mind set on her education. One week after graduation, June 7, 1962, they were married, and have been hopelessly devoted to each other ever since. That union blessed them with two strong willed sons, Craig and Shane, and allowed them to build a life worth fighting for. Life’s storms did rage against their family, storms that would’ve shattered most families, but were no match for the love that held them all together. When Johnny saw the devil come for one of his own, he stood on his faith, went toe-to-toe with the enemy and battled like his life depended on it. In his mind, it did, because his family was everything to him. He was also fiercely loyal to his country and committed to serving in the Air Force. Stationed in Hawaii with Air Force Intelligence, he gave four years of his life serving and decrypting codes. How cool is that! Without that love and will to fight, Adam and Paul might never have been. What a shame that would’ve been, because they both melted his heart and gave him the fire to carry on. Even when his body was physically tired, that love pulled him through and motivated him to fight harder. I remember growing up at the ballpark, countless ballparks actually, so I’ve known Johnny for a long time. I always thought he was so hard on his boys, pushing them to the limits of themselves, but I never doubted his belief in them, his love for them, or his pride in them for all they’d accomplished. Life happens and we took different paths to different cities and states, but when we moved back here six years ago, it was a ballpark that crossed our paths again. I got to see that same Johnny pushing, cheering, coaching, and celebrating Paul and Adam, who played with my son. I still thought he was hard on them, but my adult eyes saw it differently than I had when I was younger. As an adult, and now a parent of five myself, I could recognize in his voice a love that wants life’s best for someone else; I could hear a love that wouldn’t allow them to give up on themselves just because it was hard. I loved sitting on the bleachers and talking with him, listening to him share crazy childhood and college stories about Pit with me. I loved to hear him tell me how he was the best framer he’d ever seen and how he could “see” things others couldn’t, so he could prevent thousands of dollars in construction errors, before anyone else even had a clue. There was such pride in his eyes and joy in his heart. It always touched me to hear him brag on Shane for all he could do even through the horrible pain he was in. There was such pride in his eyes and joy in his heart. All four of his boys are so smart, and he loved to talk about how good they did in school, when they applied themselves. But he wasn’t one to sugarcoat things; he was always quick to tell me what they needed to improve, what they were working on, and what he wished he’d done differently with his own. There was an obvious love for all of them that endeared me to him. I love that it all happened at a ballpark, a common thread throughout 40+ years of both our lives, and I have to believe Johnny did, too. None of this will be news to them, but I hope it is to some of you, because it’s important to me that Johnny be more than two dates, that he doesn’t go out as just a beginning and an end, but that his love for his faith and his family lives on. He believed in the Lord and wanted to spend eternity with Him and take everyone he loved along for the ride. So even though I know their hearts are breaking today, I also know that’s what will keep them going, the faith that they will be with him again in heaven. That and knowing that he’ll be laid to rest on Veteran’s Day. There is such pride in their eyes and joy in their hearts. "This is Johnny’s Legacy" Visitation will be 11:00am until 1:00pm Wednesday, November 11, 2020 with the funeral service to follow at 1:00pm at Murfreesboro Funeral Home and Cremation Services. Interment to follow at 3:30 pm in Mount View Cemetery, 209 Mountain St, McMinnville, TN 37110.