Vestavia Hills resident dies in plane crash

John Gary Wyatt of Vestavia Hills was identified as the victim in a deadly plane crash from last week. Wyatt died after his personal aircraft, a Cirrus SR22, crashed into a field in Shelby County.

The 38-year-old husband and father of two was also president of Wyatt General Contractor LLC, a Birmingham-based firm. He grew up in the Birmingham area and was a member of Hoover High School’s first graduating class.

After graduating from Hoover High School, Wyatt studied business at Samford Univeristy, where he was head cheerleader for three years and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, a student teacher in the Spanish lab and a member of Alpha Kappa Psi business fraternity.

Wyatt received his instrument pilot certification at 19 years old, and flying was one of his passions. He also enjoyed the outdoors and was a certified scuba diver.

Wyatt was a deacon at Briarwood Presbyterian Church, where he and his wife, Mary, were active in the Sunday school. At the time of his death, Wyatt was pursuing a Masters of Divinity degree at Birmingham Theological Seminary. Wyatt was also actively involved in his community and was recently selected to participate in Leadership Vestavia Hills.

The Wyatt family has established a scholarship at Samford University in Wyatt’s honor. To contribute to the “John Gary Wyatt Leadership in Business Scholarship,” contact Randy Pittman at Samford University at 726-2331 or rpittman@smaford.edu.

Services will be at Briarwood Presbyterian Church on Sept. 2 at 2 p.m. Visitation with the family will begin at 1 p.m., and Senior Pastor Dr. Harry Reeder will officiate the service. A burial will follow at Southern Heritage Cemetery.