Wyatt’s legacy motivates others

John Gary Wyatt had his hands in a little bit of everything.

The Vestavia Hills resident sang, cracked jokes, played violin, hunted, fished and generally took on whatever came his way. He had such a variety of interests that sometimes it was difficult to keep track of them all.

“He had things that would come to his mind that, some people would think, ‘Well, I would like to do that …’ Well, John wouldn’t just like to do it, he just does it,” said John’s sister, Jennifer Carter. “He always had that kind of drive.”

One of his interests was flying, and John received his instrument pilot certification at 19 years old. John died after his personal aircraft crashed into a field on Aug. 27. The exact cause of the crash is still being investigated, and John’s mother, Mary, said preliminary investigations show there was some sort of issue with the plane.

Despite the accident taking John at the young age of 38, Mary said their family remains strong in their faith.

“The only thing we can place blame on is an airplane,” Mary said. “But we can’t be mad with God because we know his promise.”

In addition to flying, John enjoyed spending time outside. He enjoyed nature from a young age, bringing his mother worms and flowers, and continued that passion as an adult by hunting and hiking. 

Although he would hop around in his interests, Mary said John would always do his best in any new task.

“One thing he did was once he started something, he followed through until he felt like he had really conquered and excelled at it,” Mary said.

Once he conquered a task, Mary said he would move on to the next challenge. But his success never went to his head, Jennifer said. He wouldn’t brag about his own accomplishments and instead lauded others’ efforts.

“He would make a big deal about other people, though,” Jennifer said. “If something happened for you, he was very excited for you.”

His ability to support others was a quality of his compassion, Jennifer said. John often worked to help and connect with others.

“He could make the other person feel comfortable and not feel judged or lesser than,” Jennifer said. “It was just an honest person talking to another honest person.”

Human connection helped him as a leader, Mary said, giving John a personality that drew others to him. Kara Kennedy, social media strategist at Samford University’s Brock School of Business, said she saw John’s success as a leader during the times she worked with him.

“I think it [his personality] was very, from what I saw, what enables someone to motivate others,” she said. “If you’ve got compassion and you care about people, then you’re able to motivate others.”

John used his leadership as president of Wyatt General Contractor, a Hoover-based construction firm, by encouraging and inspiring others, Mary said. Kennedy said he used his success to help members of the community, including after tornadoes hit the Birmingham and Cordova areas.

“They [his company] built churches and things, rebuilt a bunch of things, but he also helped in relief efforts for that area by working to take water and food and helping people of that area,” Kennedy said. “He had a really big heart and big compassion for people. That’s what I saw in John.”

Although Kennedy mainly knew John through a professional relationship, she said through conversations they found several commonalities. One time, they realized her grandparents were friends with the grandparents of John’s wife, Mary Wyatt. Kennedy grew up going to Mary’s grandparents’ lake house.

“That just shows you how connected we all are, when you find these little connections and you find you have something in common,” Kennedy said.

John’s love for his family was obvious, Kennedy said, and if they weren’t talking about work, he mainly talked about his wife and two daughters, Mary Evelyn Epperson and Viola Rose Catherine.

“You can tell from the photos how much he cared for them,” Kennedy said.

When he became a father, John’s mother said he took the new responsibility in stride. He shared a passion for nature with his daughters and even learned to do their hair. John would be silly at times, Mary said, but he worked to teach them whatever he could.

“He was always trying to give them the knowledge he knew they were going to need when they grew up,” Jennifer said.

His daughters are 3 and 5 years old, and Mary said the family plans to make sure they remember their father.

“We’re hoping that they’ll have all the sweet memories of their daddy that we can help them remember in the pictures and in the things they did together,” Mary said.

John was also a good husband, Mary said. He would help around the house, taking on tasks his wife would mention. 

“She said those were the best years of her life, and she said it will never be like that again,” John’s mother said.

Having so many fond memories sometimes makes their loss more difficult, Mary said, but their faith helps push through the hard times.

“We know we’ll see him again when we get to heaven,” Jennifer said. “We’ll all be together again.”

“We know we’ll see him again, but it’s just a long journey to get there,” Mary added.