Death of a Classmate - Thomas Jackson "Jack" Pruitt - 1st Co.

Thomas Jackson "Jack" Pruitt was born on April 25, 1929 and passed away on February 2, 2016. Mr. Pruitt is survived by his daughter Elizabeth (Betsy) Pruitt; sons Tom Pruitt (Meg), Scott Pruitt, Russ Pruitt, and Dan Pruitt (Brooke). Mr. Pruitt is also survived by his grandchildren Sam, Jackson, Emma, Tanner, Scottie, Staton, Russell, and Hayes; and by Jack's brother Jimmy S. Pruitt of Gainesville, Ga. Mr. Pruitt was predeceased by his parents Ida S. and Joseph P. Pruitt, Sr; his wife Joy Price Pruitt; and his brother Joe P. Pruitt, Jr. Jack grew up in Gainesville, GA. and graduated from Gainesville High School in 1948. In high school, "Jackie" was elected Class President for his senior, junior and sophomore years. At GHS, Jackie was best known for his athletic achievements where he was a starting quarterback, short stop, and forward on his conference championship teams in football, baseball, and basketball respectively. He was also a conference champion in singles tennis. After high school Jack attended North Georgia College for two years on an athletic scholarship and then received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Upon his graduation in 1954 from the Naval Academy as 1st Battalion Commander, he was recognized as one of thirteen for his leadership achievements. He was commissioned to the destroyer USS H.J. Ellison, where he served until 1958, sailing primarily in the Mediterranean. His civilian career included many stops in a management and executive career with various industrial companies. In 1975 he primarily settled in Birmingham after having lived and worked in Kentucky, Massachusetts, Texas and Virginia. A later detour lasted a decade in Georgia and Florida before Jack returned to Birmingham in 2010. There will be a memorial service held in the chapel of Mountain Brook Baptist Church on Wednesday, February 10th at 2 P.M. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any memorials be made to the Mountain Brook Baptist Church or to the American Cancer Society , 1104 Ireland Way, Birmingham 35205.

Mountain Brook Baptist Church

3631 Montevallo Rd S

Birmingham, AL 35213

Published in The Birmingham News from Feb. 5 to Feb. 7, 2016