Bobby Jarrell Bittick

Bobby Jarrell Bittick, 87, of Kilgore, departed his Earthly journey for the beauty of Heaven on Tuesday, December 12, 2023 at his home in Kilgore surrounded by loving family and friends.

He lived every day of his life centered by the Bible verse John 8:32 “You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free,” and he was affectionately known as Paw Paw, wonderful husband, loving father and mentoring friend. He used every interaction as an opportunity to reach people for God, and he touched many, many lives in a positive way through his church work, his coaching, his teaching, his community service and his insurance business.

He was the first born of Davis and Florence Bittick on a cold winter day, January 21, 1936, in the Harmony Community of San Augustine County. His sister, Yvonne Goodwin Butler, was born three years later.

He attended K through 12th grade in San Augustine where he played and lettered in football, basketball and baseball. He also served as Vice President of the Student Council and was part of the Junior Play, A Capella Choir and FFA. He graduated from San Augustine High School in 1954. He first attended Texas A&M University in 1954 and 1955 before going to play baseball at Panola College in 1956 and 1957. He finished college at Stephen F. Austin State University in 1959 where he graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science and a Masters of Education.

He married the love of his life, the former Wanda Lou Scott, on August 30, 1957 in the First Baptist Church of San Augustine, and to this union three children were born, Belinda Anice Bittick/Spurgin on December 26, 1959, Brian Thomas Bittick on December 31, 1962 and Beverly Annette Bittick/Moore on October 1, 1968. His first job out of college was at Brookeland ISD in 1959 where he served as basketball coach and science teacher. He then moved to San Augustine in 1960 and 1961 before taking a job coaching all sports and teaching science at Giddings ISD in 1961 and 1962. His next stop was Gaston ISD from 1962 until 1965 where he was a teacher and a coach of some of the school’s most outstanding basketball squads. He spent 1965 and 1966 at West Rusk ISD in New London before a new adventure presented itself.

In 1966, he was recruited to come to Kilgore as an insurance agent for State Farm Insurance, so he left the education business and entered the insurance business. From 1966 to 2000, Bittick grew his State Farm agency to one of the largest customer bases in East Texas, served hundreds of customers like they were family members and, together with Wanda, became pillars in the Kilgore community.He was ordained as a deacon at First Baptist Church Turnertown in the 1960s, and this bolstered an already strong Christian faith and led to a lifetime of service to his church and to God. He was a member of the Sanctuary Choir at First Baptist Church in Kilgore for over 50 years, and together with Wanda he taught Sunday School, first youth and then young married couples, at First Baptist Church of Kilgore for 35 years. Many of his youth and young married couples today, as they have children and grandchildren, credit he and Wanda for leading them to the Lord and showing them what a life serving God should look like.

First Baptist Church of Kilgore was like a second home to Bobby and Wanda Bittick, and he served on numerous committees, participated in hundreds of church events and spent countless hours working on church projects over the course of nearly 60 years. Bobby believed that the best friends you could have were found while attending a church and worshipping the Lord, and he also believed that service to God was an important thing for anyone to have as part of their day.

He also had a strong presence in community service in Kilgore. He was a 50-year plus member of the Kilgore Lions Club where he held numerous offices and participated in a host of service projects. Along with Wanda, he was a longtime board member for the Kilgore Community Concert Association, and he assisted her with projects for the Kilgore Improvement and Beautification Association as well as the Kilgore Chamber of Commerce. He supported many community and civic functions while working in Kilgore, but his love for the community did not stop once he retired. He continued to participate in a wide variety of community service projects well into his 80s. He also loved his Kilgore Bulldog athletic teams and spent many evenings watching local students play football, basketball and baseball. There were not many Friday nights he was not in attendance at one game or another, rooting for KHS and the students involved.

His athletic past and his coaching history, along with a strong desire to work with young people, served him well for years as a coach for a long list of youth sports teams in Kilgore. He not only instructed the students in the finer points of the game they were playing but used the opportunity to make them better people as well. Many of those students still looked to him as they grew and married and became parents for advice on how to be the best person they could be.

But whether working in insurance, raising kids, watching over his grandkids or participating in church, besides God and his family, Bobby Bittick’s true love was his family farm near San Augustine. Any time the opportunity arose, he would jump into the car and drive the hour and 15 minutes to the place he treasured, his family farm. He and Wanda built the farm into a showplace, adding on to the original house several rooms, a covered patio, a deer processing structure and covered parking areas and several barns over the years. He also had a large garden at his Kilgore home as well as the farm, and he was proud to share the fruits of his labor with anyone who was interested. Gardening was one of his favorite hobbies, and he spent hours nurturing many different items that ended up on tables across East Texas. He and Wanda hosted numerous family events, church friends and Sunday School classes and a good number of deer hunting days for family and friends. If you knew Bobby Bittick, you knew the farm was a very important place for him, from his early days until the final days of his life.

Left to cherish the memory of this Godly man are his wife of 66 years, Wanda Bittick, of Kilgore; daughter Belinda Bittick Spurgin and her husband Kent of McKinney and their children, Kalli Spurgin of Sherman and Koby Spurgin of McKinney; son Brian Bittick and his wife Ellen of Kilgore and their children and grandchildren, Tayler Bittick Welch and Mason Welch of Kilgore and Cooper and Hayes Welch of Kilgore, and Kade Bittick of Longview; a daughter, Beverly Bittick Moore and her husband John of Abilene and their children, Marshall Moore of Austin, Collin and Libby Moore of San Angelo and Nathan Moore of Abilene; a sister Yvonne Goodwin Butler of Chireno; and a host of cousins, nephews, nieces and other relatives.

Services are planned for 2:00 p.m. on Friday, December 15, 2023 at the First Baptist Church of Kilgore with Dr. Glenn Young and Rev. John Moore officiating. Graveside services will follow in the Danville Cemetery in Kilgore. Visitation is planned for Thursday, December 14, 2023 from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. at Rader Funeral Home of Kilgore.

In Lieu of flowers, family request donations may be made to the First Baptist Church Deacon Fund, 501 E. North St. Kilgore, Texas 75662.

Special thanks to Arbor Grace of Kilgore, Christus Good Shepherd and Choice Health Care and Hospice for their loving and compassionate care and his personal caregivers, who attended to him so lovingly.