Jeffrey L. Britton, age 61, of Wayne, passed away unexpectedly on Thursday, November 1, 2018.

The second oldest of his parents Samuel and Dorothy Britton’s eight children, Jeff was raised in Nutley where he graduated from Nutley High School with the Class of 1975.

Jeff and his sweet wife Katina met one night while Jeff was out for drinks with his friends and Katina was out with hers. Their paths crossed and a mutual spark took place that night, so soon after, they went out on their first official date to the Grand Saloon in Clifton. Jeff’s wedding proposal came, with Katina’s parents blessing, on Christmas Eve, 1985. He bought Katina red roses and had the engagement ring set into the beautiful bouquet of flowers. The funny thing was, Katina didn’t even notice the ring at first, mistaking it instead for a piece of ice. The following year, they pledged their love to one another before God, family and friends on Sunday, November 16, 1986 at Our Lady of Consolation Church in Wayne. This was followed by a great reception at The Manor in West Orange and a honeymoon to Hawaii.

Jeff and Katina’s first home as husband and wife was an apartment in Wayne. After a couple of years, they moved into a townhouse in the Deer Run Community in Lincoln Park. While in Deer Run, their lives changed forever as they happily welcomed their son Michael “Mikey” into this world in June, 1997.  Five years later, they moved to their home in Wayne where they have remained to this present day.

Soon after their marriage, Jeff began his own construction business – J. Britton Construction which he built from the ground up and proudly managed for more than thirty years. He was primarily involved in commercial construction and he took great pride in the work he did. Jeff’s abilities and creativity were endless.

Throughout their lives together, Jeff and Katina were blessed with the opportunity to travel a lot. There were trips out west to California and Arizona, and ski trips to Lake Tahoe and Utah. They also went on vacations all over the entire east coast, together and with their son Mikey, including numerous trips to Disney. When they felt like escaping to a warmer place, Jeff enjoyed relaxing in Turks and Caicos, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Mexico and their favorite destination of Aruba where they have a timeshare. They considered Aruba their home away from home and one of Jeff’s favorite pastimes while there was playing golf. In fact, golf was truly one of Jeff’s greatest regular pastimes. He enjoyed playing golf with his son Mikey in Aruba and, over the years, Jeff played golf with family and friends at a lot of other places too, including courses all over New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. He also had a lot of fun playing in Myrtle Beach with the guys from the Packanack Firehouse.

Without a doubt, Jeff’s happiest times were being with his family and working in his business. Whether he was just chilling and grilling at home, helping to coach Mikey’s flag football league when he was young, going to all of Mikey’s football and lacrosse games at Wayne Valley High School, or using his construction skills to fix up his home in Wayne and make it the best it could be, Jeff loved being with his family.

If you needed help with something, Jeff was always someone you could call upon. He could fix anything. For many years he also ran his own snowplowing business. As a husband, father, son, brother, uncle, son-in-law, friend and neighbor, Jeff’s kind, approachable, loving, generous, willing-to-help personality and demeanor will be truly missed.

Jeff was the beloved husband of Katina Britton (Chirichella), blest in marriage for almost thirty-two years; dear father of Michael Britton; loving son of Dorothy Britton of Nutley and the late Samuel Britton, Sr. who passed in 1993; dear brother of: Samuel Britton, Jr. of Essex Fells, Scott Britton of Nutley, Barbara Matloff and partner Michael Scott of Roseland, Kerry and husband Steve Garrett of Pennsylvania, Drew Britton of Nutley, Lee and wife Maryann Britton of Nutley, and William and wife Allison Britton of Nutley; dear uncle of Adam Matloff, Breanne Matloff, Danielle Britton, Jessica Britton, and Amanda Britton; dear son-in-law of John and Catherine Chirichella of Wayne; and best friend of his loyal dog Buster.

In lieu of flowers, those planning an expression of sympathy in Jeff’s name are asked to consider a donation to the GoFundMe Account established to help offset Jeff’s son Michael’s college expenses. Please click here to donate to Mikey’s College Fund.