Steve "Grits" Britt

Clyde Stephen “Grits” Britt, 71, passed away peacefully after a long, courageous battle with cancer on December 25, 2018. Steve was born in 1947 in Rocky Mount, NC to a close-knit Baptist family. After graduating from Rocky Mount Senior High School in 1965, he attended East Carolina University in Greenville, NC. Highly focused on his dream of being a pilot and serving his country, he joined the Air Force after college in 1969 where he earned his wings and his callsign “Grits” and went on to a distinguished career flying the F15 Eagle, before retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel after 20 years of service in 1989. After the first of many “retirements”, he was immediately hired by TWA/American as a commercial airline pilot where he continued his dream of flying for the next 18 years as a first officer and captain on the ERJ145, MD80, 757, and 767. Retiring again only when mandated by the FAA, he went on to his third career as a Learjet captain with Phoenix Air, conducting training missions with the Navy Atlantic Fleet as a contractor, until his final retirement in 2016. Despite an aviation career that spanned almost 50 years, he never worked a single day. Over the course of his seventy-one years, Steve traveled to countless countries and lived in 18 cities before making his forever home in Schuyler, VA with his love Jackie. They were active members of Schuyler Baptist Church and the community and together built a fulfilling life in the mountains surrounded by an amazing group friends and family. He fought multiple forms of cancer along the way, but he was a tremendous fighter and tackled each setback with the strength and courage you’d expect from an USAF Pilot. He will be remembered by everyone he met as a caring and dedicated son, husband, father, grandfather, and friend, who was always there to help someone in need or to listen and offer an opinion or two. Steve is preceded in death by his parents, Clyde and Mary Mac Britt, of Tarboro, NC, and survived by his beloved wife, Jackie Clark Britt; two sons and their wives, David and Libby Britt, and Matthew and Sarah Britt, all of Marietta, GA; five grandchildren, Sara, David Jr., Olivia, Dylan, and Levi; and a brother and his wife, Terry and Debbie Britt, of Charlotte, NC, and countless other family and friends he made along the way. The family would like to thank the excellent team of dedicated doctors and nurses involved in his treatment at the University of Virginia Hospital and HealthSouth Rehabilitation Center, especially his primary doctors, Drs. Densmore, Schiff, and Read. There will be a visitation held for those who wish to pay their respects at Teague Funeral Service on Friday, December 28, 2018 from 6-8pm. A memorial service will be held at Teague Funeral Service on Saturday, December 29, 2018 at 11am. Burial will follow the service at Alberene Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the American Cancer Society or to the UVA Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center in Charlottesville, VA, where Steve received such wonderful care.