The Graveside Service for Coach Irad Pittman of Oglethorpe, Georgia will be held Friday, March 12, 2021 at 1:00 PM CST at St. Mary Cemetery in Jacob City, Florida. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, we ask that you please MASK UP and continue practicing social distancing for your protection and for the safety of others. Public Viewing at West's Mortuary will be from 4:00 - 7:00 PM Thursday, March 11, 2021. Viewing in Jacob City, Florida will be Friday, March 12, 2021 from 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM CST.
Irad was born April 7, 1948, in Jacob City, Fla., to the late Enoch and Florentine Jackson Pittman. In his youth, he attended St. Mary Missionary Baptist Church where he was baptized.
He received his secondary education through the Jackson County, Florida school system. He was a proud graduate of St. Paul High School, Campbellton, Fla. Class of 1965 - The Mighty Megatons. With the assistance and support of St. Paul HS’s Coach Elmore Bryant, Irad received a football scholarship to Albany (GA) State College. He excelled on the gridiron and would later in life come to the aid of his students. He earned his bachelor and master degrees from Albany State.
Irad’s professional career as a teacher and basketball and football coach was exemplary. While serving as head football coach at Stewart-Quitman High School, Irad’s team brought home the Region 1 Class A Championship in 1987. This was the school’s first and only football championship. The Georgia Athletic Coaches Association named him Football Coach of the Year in 1987. Stewart County Middle School’s girls’ basketball team named him Coach of the Year 2002 - 2003. He retired from the Georgia Association of Education Stewart County in 2004 after 31 years of service.
Because of Coach Pittman’s commitment and dedication to sports and his students, he established an MVP award for all athletics at Stewart County High School to recognize athletic and academic excellence. Upon his retirement in 2004, the name of the Award was changed to the Irad Pittman MVP Award. And you could count on seeing his face in the place at son Elliot’s middle and high school and college football and basketball games.
Irad enjoyed a good debate and honed those skills when he served as a council member for the city of Lumpkin, Georgia from 1990 - 1997. News, politics, sports and investing were his topics of the day. He was a gentle, kind, and thoughtful man who loved God.
Irad is survived by his devoted and loving partner, Cheryl Law; daughter, Inika Pittman; son, Elliot (Jasmine) Pittman; brother, Edrick (Betty) Jackson; sister, Lorestine Pittman (Johnny Smith); uncle, George W. Pittman, Sr., Godmother, Lorene Pittman; beloved nieces, nephews and cousins; bonus daughter and granddaughter Keisha Law and Nadia Walker; special friends, Willie D. (Mary H) Gray; James (Faithleen) Henderson; Marvin (Glenda) Bishop, and Stewart County Retired Educators.