Ike Britton

Ike Britton, age 90, passed away on August 25, 2017. He was pre-deceased by his loving wife Faye Russell Britton with whom he lived for many years at the home they built by hand on Lake Martin in Jackson’s Gap, and before that for many years in Midfield, AL near Birmingham. He leaves two sons, Isaac Ripon Britton, Jr (Vera Smith T Britton) of Birmingham, and Robert Russell Britton (Beth Walden Britton) of Dunwoody, GA; grandsons, Rip Britton, III (Jennifer), John Harris Britton, Robert Davis Britton, Samuel Powers Britton and Scott Smith T Britton. Ike was born on December 13, 1926 in Charleston, SC, to William Joseph Britton and Lottie Powers Britton. He was the sixth of ten children and is survived by his younger siblings, Kenneth Wilson Britton and his wife Brenda, of Hollywood, SC, Lois Britton Boyles of Winter Garden, FL, Charles Edward Britton and his wife Roma Lee of Georgetown, SC, and Ann Britton Dodd, of Jacksonville, FL, as well as a host of loving and fun nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews on both the Britton and Russell sides of the family.

Ike graduated from Rantowles High School in South Carolina at age 17 ½. Being too young to join the Army and fight in World War II, he joined the Merchant Marines and spent time in the Pacific and later in the Atlantic. He served in the US Army during the Korean War era and then attended the University of South Carolina where he received a BS in Civil Engineering. He then moved to Birmingham where he worked for the Tennessee Coal and Iron Company and later United States Steel for many years until his retirement. He later worked for the City of Midfield as the City Inspector and for the Hoover Board of Education as a construction supervisor. He was active for many years and took on various leadership roles in the Alabama Dahlia Society, The Southern States Dahlia Society, the Alabama Chapter of the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, the Alabama Bottle Collectors Club, and the Midfield Lions Club. Ike was a member and Deacon for many years at Ensley Baptist Church and then since moving to the Lake a member at First Baptist Dadeville. He loved to garden and then pass out tomatoes and pickled okra to his friends. He spent most of his time outside or in his shop. He loved to build things, including the house he lived in on the lake, various barns and sheds, and he loved to work with wood. Lucky and many are those who have one of his tables, checkerboards or cutting boards. Faye and Ike loved to collect things: antique clocks, bottles, string holders, and signs. But most of all he loved to collect friends, of whom he had many, of all ages and all walks of life, who looked after him very well as he got older. He was sometimes jokingly referred to as the Mayor of Powell Point or as the Oldest Man on Lake Martin. He loved nothing more than to sit and talk and laugh with his friends or to help his neighbors fix things. He loved his breakfast club who for many years met at his house everyone morning for breakfast and to discuss the politics of the day. The site of him in his paint stained sweat shirts, old hats, and ever present boat shoes, but never with socks, was a familiar and welcome site to many. He will be missed.

After a private family burial at Elwood Cemetery in Birmingham, there will be a visitation at 1:00 pm followed by a Memorial Service as Dadeville First Baptist at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, August 29, 2017, at which all friends are welcome. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Auburn University Foundation for the Ike and Faye Britton Scholarship fund or the First Baptist Dadeville Benevolence Fund.

Visitation

1:00 PM - 2:00 PM ,Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Dadeville First Baptist Church

Memorial Service

2:00 PM ,Tuesday, August 29, 2017
Dadeville First Baptist Church