Marion Jackson "Jack" Hitt

Marion Jackson “Jack” Hitt, who travelled to every corner of Arkansas and made friends everywhere he went, passed away on May 28, 2026. 

An avid tennis player and hiker for decades, Hitt was a manufacturer’s representative for makers of water and sewer treatment equipment, and for water storage tanks. With Jack, a handshake served as well as any written contract. He won – deservedly so – the respect of engineers and city officials throughout the state in towns large and small. 

Jack Hitt loved the outdoors and never took a divided highway when a back road would get him there. He knew this state as few people ever have or will.

In retirement, he worked as an usher for the Arkansas Travelers baseball team where he made and aided even more friends. He and his wife, Patricia, who survives him, were dedicated members of The Church at Rock Creek. 

Jack’s most important lesson in life, which he emphasized to his children and grandchildren, was that happiness is a gift you give yourself by simply deciding to be happy.

Jack hiked the Ouachita Trail both ways and was worked his way through much of the Ozark Highlands Trail.

An avid reader of Arkansas and American history, he also kept extensive personal journals throughout his long and active life. He never stopped learning and freely shared what he learned without lecturing or boorishness.

Born and raised in rural Georgia, Jack was a true Southern gentleman with all the virtues of that and none of the vices. His passion and respect for Blues music started at an early age and never diminished. He sought out live performances of it even when, in his youth, this carried social costs.

Jack and his family lost his father when Jack was six years old. In the tradition of his time, he became the man of the family. He met those demands throughout his life.

Whoever you were - relative, friend or stranger- you could count on Jack Hitt.

In addition to his wife, survivors include four children from his first marriage to Karen Byars Leith: Victoria Tarter of Fayetteville; Wesley Hitt of Bentonville; Lisa Thompson and her husband, Doug, also of Fayetteville, and Stephanie O’Neal of Farmington; eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. 

Jack was a keen storyteller with a quick wit and a ready quip whatever the occasion. His remarkable talent for deadpan delivery made his most outrageous tales sound like simple facts. You never were quite sure if his stories were true, loosely based on a real event or made up all together. But they entertained.

We will miss him.