John O. Brittain, Jr. age 70, of Upton, Kentucky passed away Monday, June 15, 2020. He was born in Springfield, IL and was the son of the late John O. Brittain, Sr. and Lois Miller Brittain. John was a graduate of Cornell University with a master's degree in Agronomy. He was the owner and operator of Nolin River Nut Tree Nursery. John was preceded in death by his wife Elizabeth “Lisa” Brittain. John is survived by two daughters, Olivia and Violet; one brother, and two sisters.
John and Lisa Brittain at NAFEX meeting, 2012.
John Brittain, a self-made man, followed in the footsteps of Les Wilmoth and brought his knowledge of teaching and the study of horticulture to the industry.
John Brittain was a soft-spoken person and when John spoke, I was one of the many people that was there to listen as knowledge flowed around John.
I had spent many days with Les Wilmoth near Elizabethtown KY and Les would tell me of some of the newest things they (John and Les) were experimenting with and what worked and what had failed, and as I would talk with John on the phone or in person at the (KNGA) Kentucky Nut Growers Asso. he would share some of his experiences of learning also.
The information that flowed from John was golden, and I will still not know a 10th of the knowledge that John did, but I do cherish every lesson and exchange of information from John.
We shared Scion wood and information, John had expressed the trees and pursuits that was he was going to follow once he begins to slow down near retirement, and
we conversed about sales and the economy, which often drove the market place for the Nursery industry.
John will be greatly missed as a competitor, Colleague and Friend, but most of all a mentor. John, thank you for the help along the way. ~Cliff England
I met John Brittain when I arrived in Kentucky in 1998. He was a soft spoken person who welcomed me to Kentucky and the KNGA. He had an amazing breath of knowledge of nut tree varieties and was an amazing horticulturist! He was always willing to talk about nut growing with anyone and I learned a lot about nut varieties from him. He strongly supported KNGA, bringing many trees from his nursery for the plant auction each spring. He made the auctions a great learning experience, talking about each species or variety as he auctioned off the plants for the benefit of KNGA. I visited him at his nursery and always left learning something new about a nut variety. I also enjoyed visiting with him about pawpaw and persimmon. He often visited the KSU Research and Demonstration Farm and we worked on a number of projects together.
John Brittain and Carl Ray, 2009, conducting KNGA plant auction
He was one of the nicest people I have ever met. I also thank John for his help and greatly miss his friendship. We will miss him every day. ~Kirk Pomper