December 1, 1946 ~ October 12, 2024

Words about Jimmy from Richard Brown

It is with great sadness that I share with you the passing of our classmate, my neighbor and friend, Jimmy Bitetto on October 12, 2024.  He had been diagnosed with Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer about a month earlier and died peacefully in his sleep. He is now free of the pain and health challenges of his past several years.  

Jimmy lived right around the corner from me but, him being a couple of years older and into motorcycles and hot rods, we ran with different crowds and were never close friends growing up.  But, over the past couple of years, I reconnected with Jimmy over Facebook and realized that we shared an eternal connection as followers of Jesus. During that time, he and I communicated regularly about Biblical and spiritual matters. Then, a little more than a year ago, I spent quite a bit of time up on LI surrounding the passing of Debbie’s mother.  I reached out to Jimmy at his home in Wantagh and we  enjoyed several lunches together. After one of them, he took me into his shop and proudly showed me his motorcycle and auto restoration projects.  I learned about his life in that industry and how he pioneered painting methods that won a number of national awards.  He was truly an artist!  And he also engineered parts for motorcycles that had never been thought of before.  But most importantly, he was a sweet spirit who loved his Lord and is now with Him for eternity, probably doing a custom paint job on the chariot Jesus will be returning on one day in the future.  Rest in peace, my brother.