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Lt. Colonel “Jake” Tritton was born on February 23, 1940 in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to James & Jeannette Tritton who later became Officers in The Salvation Army.
He was the second of five boys. Being an officer’s child, he lived in several cities and states, from Alexandria, VA to Ensley, AL, on to San Angelo, TX. He spent his growing up years in his beloved adopted state of Texas. He graduated high school in Ft. Worth, then attended Tyler Junior College on a band scholarship and was a member of the Tyler Junior College Apache Band. It was during this time he began dating Patsy Allison and they married on June 17, 1960, and recently celebrated 62 years of marriage. Soon they began their paperwork for Training for Officership (CFOT) in Atlanta, GA. Their first child, Cammie, was born the next year in September and accompanied them to the CFOT. They were members of the “Servants of Christ’ session.
They were commissioned as Officers in 1963 and appointed to Houston Temple. It was in Houston that their son, Robert Jacob, Jr. (Rob) was born in 1964. After another appointment, they left Texas and did not return for 32 ½ years when Jake became the Divisional Commander until retirement in 2005. This lasted for a month and he was called and appointed as Incident Commander to serve the whole Gulf Coast of ALM in Disaster Relief following Hurricane Katrina. This was the last of many hurricane disasters he served, but one of the hardest disasters was the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Federal Building when he was Divisional Commander of Arkansas/Oklahoma.
One of the joys of Jake’s was to work with Summit Marketing who hired him in post-retirement. Here he made many friends and served mostly the Southern Territory, helping commands with their fundraising. He spent 10 years doing what he loved, still impacting people’s lives.
Jake served in Florida as Corps Officer in two appointments, then as Divisional Youth Secretary. After leaving Florida, he served as Divisional Secretary in ALM and A/OK. Then it was out to the wonderful Western Territory as Territorial Youth Secretary. Under his leadership the Western Youth Institute was begun and a tremendous increase in the number of Candidates, one year even surpassing the number in the Southern Territory.
Candidate recruitment was one of his passions and he never missed an opportunity to offer a Call for Officership at any Divisional or Territorial youth event. As DYS in Florida, he tried to meet with every staff member each summer to talk about their future, asking them if they had considered officership. This paid great dividends for God and the Army.
He returned from the West to his beloved Southern Territory as Territorial Youth Secretary, then as Community Relations Secretary and afterward Divisional Commander in A/OK, North & South Carolina, then to his heart home, Texas, where he was able to enjoy those years with his parents, his brothers and families and Patsy’s family.
He is preceded in death by his parents, Majors Jim & Jeannette Tritton, three brothers, Jim, Albert and Kenneth Tritton.
He is survived by his wife, Lt. Colonel Patsy Tritton, daughter, Cammie (Stuart) Wilkinson, son, Rob (Claudia) Tritton, and brother Doug (Joellen) Tritton. Also, his beloved grandchildren: Victoria, Ellie Wilkinson, Afton (Ross) Lorenz, Ben (Karina), Mac, Jake and Millie Tritton. And the next generation, greatgrandchildren: Stella, Beck, Rosie and Myles.
Condolences may be sent to the family at Gentry-Morrison Funeral Homes.
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