Jennifer Desilets Britto

Jennifer was born in Seattle WA on April 14, 1965. Her parents are Robert A Desilets and JoAnn N Desilets. Two years later, her brother Robbie was born. Her father was in the US Navy Submarine Service and the family moved often in conjunction with his assignments. At various times, they lived in Hawaii, San Diego CA, Groton CT, and VA Beach. She often credited her frequent moves with her ability to look forward to new situations and meet new people.

Once her father retired from the Navy in 1978, the family moved to Stafford County VA. She graduated from Stafford High School in 1983. She met and got to know her husband to be, Mark Britto, during evening lap swim as well as the Masters Swimming program at the YMCA pool on Butler Road.

The couple got married on June 10, 1989 at St Mary’s Church in Fredericksburg VA and lived in Spotsylvania. She finished her BA degree in Philosophy at what was then known as Mary Washington College in 1992 and was thrilled to make the Dean’s List in the Spring of 1990. While attending Mary Washington, she also worked one summer at College Heights Pool as the Pool Manager and as an Assistant Swim Team Coach.

After graduation, since none of the Philosophy companies were hiring, she worked for several companies including Babbage’s at Spotsy Mall and Syscon in Crystal City. She was an early rider of the newly founded VRE. She also worked for Syscon in Dahlgren VA at the same time Mark did.

The couple adopted their first greyhound in early 1994 from the National Greyhound Adoption Program (NGAP) in Philadelphia. They fell in love with the breed and would adopt eight more greyhounds and three Spanish Greyhounds (Galgoes) over the following 30 years.

The couple moved to Richmond VA on August 31, 1997. (Same day Princess Diana died…go ahead, look it up!). In Richmond, she worked several jobs including Talbots, Godiva Chocolates, Circuit City Corporate Merchandising Department (working one floor above where Mark worked in MIS), and the Wachovia IT Help Desk.

The couple moved back to Fredericksburg in the Spring of 2004 and rented an apartment while their new home was being built. They moved into their house in the Fall of 2004. Much to Mark’s chagrin, Jennifer was elected president of the Pelham’s Crossing HOA after the builders transferred control of the HOA to the neighborhood. She also later served on the HOA board. The couple was active with Virginia Greyhound Adoption (VAGA) for many years participating in fund raising events, local transport, greyhound meet and greet events, and picnics. In Fredericksburg, she worked for Stewart Wealth Management, Strayer University, and a few other places. While at Strayer, she convinced Mark to become an

Adjunct Math Professor at Strayer, making this the third time they had both worked for the same company, at the same time, and under the same roof.

For the last fifteen years of her life, she dealt with many health issues. Despite the physical obstacles she had in her life, she enjoyed her time with her family, friends, and dogs (often 3-4 at any given time).

She is preceded in death by her mother, JoAnn Desilets.

She is survived by her husband of thirty-six years, Mark Britto. She is also survived by her father, Bob Desilets and brother Rob Desilets. Both of them now live in New Orleans LA.

She will be missed, especially by the salespeople at DSW, Talbots, Ann Taylor, and Joseph A Banks where she was a frequent and well-known customer.

There will be no services, so the family requests you leave your message for the family on this memorial website. Later this year, there will be a small family only ceremony to scatter her ashes in a yet to be determined body of water.

A donation in Jennifer’s memory may be made to James River Greyhounds on their website. https://www.jamesrivergreyhounds.org/

THANK YOU AND MAY GOD BLESS YOU!