Barbara Gregory Pittenger

Barbara (Bip) Pittenger passed away on August 9, 2025, at Sarasota Memorial Hospital, after a 4-year fight with Ovarian Cancer. Bip is survived by her loving husband, Keith, her two sons, Scott (Amanda) and Gregory (Frossy), granddaughters Emsley and Adelynn, and one on the way, Amelia. Bip is also survived by her younger siblings, James (Maxie), Gregory, and Katie (Robert) Rowan. She was predeceased by her parents James Wilmer Gregory and Imogene Lowden Gregory, and her older sister, Susan Gregory.

Bip was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, on June 18, 1957, but moved to Sarasota, Florida at age 2.

She graduated from Riverview High School, Class of 75, and got her associates degree from Manatee Community College, studying radiology to become an X-ray tech. She was employed at Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) at age 20, and when she retired in 2023, after 46 years, was believed to be SMH’s longest tenured employee. When SMH needed a female ultrasound tech, they chose Bip, and for 30+ years, if you had a pregnancy with First Physicians Group of SMH, chances are it was Bip that first told the parents whether they were having a baby boy or baby girl. She treated thousands of patients with compassion, and loved her job and all the doctors, nurses, and associates she worked with.

Bip loved her family and was a baseball mom while Scott and Greg were growing up. She served on the board of Twin Lakes Little League, and followed her sons play through Babe Ruth of Sarasota, Riverview High School, and Northwestern State University. Her prayers for grandchildren were finally answered when Scott married Amanda, becoming a dad to Emsley and later Adelynn. She will watch over them from Heaven, as well as her unborn granddaughter Amelia.

Bip also loved the outdoors and traveling. Many wonderful weekends over the last 20 years have been spent in Homosassa, Florida fishing, scalloping, boating, and having Homosassa Sunday breakfasts with mimosas. Her travels carried her to six continents (missing Australia), and all but a handful of the US states. She was always a shutterbug, and the family has hundreds of pictures for fond memories.

Bip will be missed by all who knew her because she was kind and loving to everybody, and the love and kindness was returned to her by everyone.

A celebration of Bip’s life will occur in late September.