East New Market - Jesse L. Brittingham, Sr. passed away on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2020 at UMSMC at Dorchester after a long battle with Colon Cancer and Heart disease. He was born on Jan. 7, 1936 the son of the late Walter McKinley Brittingham Sr. and Lillie "Mae" Frazier Brittingham of Golden Hill. On Oct. 5, 1968 he married Sandra Hazel Matson. They were happily married for 42 years until Sandy passed away in 2010.
Mr. Brittingham attended school in Dorchester County. He worked at Cusick Well Drilling in his younger years and was employed at Wire Cloth and then Wire Belts in Cambridge up until his retirement in 1998. Jesse's favorite things were hunting, catching that "big" rockfish and planting the best garden around with the sweetest tomatoes. He enjoyed listening to Old Country music, watching cowboy movies, parking down by the water and watching the storms come up, and telling stories from when he was growing up and spending time with his family.
He is survived by four children, Jesse L. "Jay" Brittingham Jr. and wife Penny, Amanda K. Purnell and husband Shannon, all of East New Market, Dawn Shorter and husband Ricky of Cambridge and Lisa D'Onofrio of Rhodesdale; 13 grandchildren, Matthew, Michael, Jessica, Andrew, Brandon, Ashley and Emily Brittingham, Nashonn Purnell, Jennifer Keyser, Lucas and Adam Patrick and Daniel and Eric Shorter; 2 step-grandchildren, Amanda Keyser and Nick D'Onofrio; four great-grandchildren; a sister, Lillie Harman of East New Market; and several nieces, nephews and cousins.
Besides his parents and other siblings, Jesse was preceded in death by his wife, Sandy Brittingham; and his son, Michael Matson Brittingham.
A celebration of life will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2020 at 11 a.m. at Thomas Funeral Home, P.A. in Cambridge.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Thomas Funeral Home, P.A., 700 Locust Street, Cambridge, MD 21613 to help defray funeral cost.