James Francis Brittingham

James Francis Brittingham, of Huber Heights, passed in his home on Sunday, October 25, 2015. God gave him a long life of 85 years. "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee" Exodus 20:12 James is also known as Francis, Red, and Jim.

Jim was born April 23, 1930, in Dayton, Ohio, to the late Willard Brittingham and the late Irene (Butcher) Brittingham.

In addition to his parents Jim is preceded in death by three of his children, daughter, Ellen Brittingham, daughter, Diane Rigney; son, Mark Brittingham; sister, Marilyn Kinney.

Jim is the oldest of his siblings. He grew up in the country during the depression. His family called him by his middle name, Francis. One of his first jobs was working at the light company, Ohio Edison, trimming trees. This is something he enjoyed throughout his life. Francis married young, to a woman named Allora and shortly after was drafted and honorably served our country in the Korean War. As the war ended so did his marriage, leading him to his second wife, Lillian. Jim loved and cared for her two daughters, that she brought into their new family, Caroline and Mary Edna. Together, they had four children, Diane, Sharon, Mark and Ellen, giving them a total of six children. Having earned his degree as a barber, he did well supporting them. Life happened and Jim found himself a single parent with four children. This led him to his third and final wife, Jolene. She brought one child, Rick, who was just six months old into their new family and a few years later Jim and Jolene had one child together, Lisa. Through it all Jim raised a total of eight children. The most important thing to him and what he desired most was a family. As business died down with men then growing their hair longer, Jim found other means of additional income. Being a handy man proved to be very helpful to him. Providing lawn care services as a family with Jolene, Rick, and Lisa was some of their most enjoyable and unifying family experiences. Jim also enjoyed riding motorcycles, dirt bikes, and street bikes; pouring and finishing concrete work, maintenancing the family's lawn mowers, and mudding walls. He really did love to work and to feel he had accomplished something at the end of the day. If he had someone to enjoy this with him, that was the icing on the cake! Jim has made many sacrifices for his family, this is his biggest contribution in life. Loyalty, honor, and respect is what he really tried to hit home. For achievement he taught, "Strive for a mountain, because you may only get a mole hill."

Jim is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Jolene (Purvis) Brittingham; daughter, Sharon Agualiar; step son, Rick Saintgnue; daughter, Lisa Griggs; son in law, Ralph Griggs; 10 grandchildren; 2 step grandchildren; several great grandchildren; four brothers, Charles, Paul, Max, Raymond; half sister, Kathy (Brittingham) Walker; step mother, Betty Brittingham; other extended family and friends.

Husband, father, grandfather, brother, friend; James Francis Brittingham will be greatly missed!!

The family will receive friends for the viewing on Monday, November 2nd, from 5-8 at Newcomer Funeral Home, 4104 Needmore Road in Dayton. The funeral service will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd, at 1:00 in the afternoon at the same location.