Iddo Pittman, Jr.

Pittman, Jr., Iddo

Iddo Pittman, Jr., passed away on March 2, 2021 at the age of 95 from old age exacerbated by pandemic-imposed isolation. For years, Iddo and his predeceased wife, Kathleen, had spent many happy weeks at the at the stone cottage they built in the Colorado mountains.  Thanks to the faithful care of their son John who lives and works nearby, Iddo was able to live independently in his comfortable apartment at Highlands Ranch, Colorado until a few days before his death.

Iddo was born in Cleveland, MS on June 1, 1925, to Iddo Pittman Sr. and Myrtle Fortenberry Pittman. In 1931 they moved to Hammond, LA where they opened a taxi business.  This was the great depression and even as a young boy Iddo never gave up looking for ways to earn a nickel. He sold old copper wire, blemished vegetables and other odds and ends from his toy wagon; he delivered circulars on foot to every home in Hammond and with a couple friends published a weekly newspaper on a borrowed mimeograph machine.  The boys reported the local goings on and sold advertisements and subscriptions.   Iddo sketched the cartoons, a favorite with his neighborly customers and worth a barrel of laughs for his family now.  By age 12, Iddo was driving the family taxi.

When the US went to war in 1943, Iddo joined the Navy and was selected for officer training.  He was sent to Tulane and then to Columbia University in New York City.  After receiving his commission, Iddo was transferred to Key West, Florida for anti-submarine warfare training. Immediately before his ship was deployed the war ended.

After completing his military service in 1948, Iddo returned to Louisiana to study law. He graduated from LSU Law School in 1950 and set up his law office in Hammond on the second floor of the old Guaranty Bank Building, using an oak teacher’s desk and a small typewriter.  

Later that year, Iddo met Kathleen Killen at the First Baptist Church. It was love at first sight! Depending on whose story one believes they were engaged within 3 weeks (Iddo’s version) or 6 weeks (Kathleen’s version) and enjoyed 59 years of a storybook marriage.  Together they visited “junk shops” on their travels around the country, furnishing their home on College Drive with antiques they purchased inexpensively making the repairs and restorations themselves.  Both earned pilots’ licenses and flew their V-tailed Bonanza all over the country.  Many of Iddo’s most satisfying hours were spent in his woodworking shop crafting 18th century style furniture.  

Iddo relished his busy small town law practice. Frequently he tried cases in Amite, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans. But every year in August, worked stopped and Iddo took his family on a three week road trip.  The children, who loved to hike and camp in the Rocky Mountains, persuaded their father to strap on hiking boots and a backpack  for treks in Montana, Wyoming and Colorado.  At the end of a long hiking day, Mr. Pittman, normally the successful lawyer in suit and tie, sat down and submerged his sore bruised feet in an icy stream and let the younger generation wait on him.

Iddo was not a natural animal lover but his wife and children were.  One Christmas morning as the family sat at the breakfast table, they heard a little whine.  Four children rushed to the utility room to find there an Irish Setter puppy.  Red was not a mild well-behaved dog but a wonderfully handsome, very active, stubborn rascal. No one loved Red more than Iddo. And no gift from a father was ever more generous and unselfish!

Iddo was a founding member of Immanuel Baptist Church in Hammond, LA, and more recently a member of Broadmoor Baptist Church in Baton Rouge.

Iddo Pittman is survived by his younger sister Bobby Ruth Tinnen of Richardson, Texas, four children, Kathleen Sharon and spouse Hilary, of Medfield, MA, Stephen Iddo and spouse Victoria of Rives Junction, MI, John Carroll and spouse Betty of Parker, CO, and Charleswayne Ian and spouse Donna of Hammond, LA; nine grandchildren, Christopher and spouse Tracie, Corey and spouse Jonny, Kelly and spouse Tyler, Jeffrey and spouse Jessica, Jane and spouse Clay, Olivia, Katie, Bill and Ella and three great grandchildren.

Friends will be received Friday, March 19, 2021 at 6:00-9:00 pm and Saturday, March 20, 9:00 to 10 am, at Harry McKneely and Son Funeral Home in Hammond, LA. Services will be held at the funeral home chapel Saturday at 10 am. Interment will follow at Greenlawn Cemetery.

A reception will follow at the Pittmans’ former residence, graciously hosted by Sarah and Bradley Hayes at 122 College Drive, Hammond.  

An online guest book is available at www.harrymckneely.com.

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