‘THE BIGGEST HEART’

Brad Pitt Hit by Family Tragedy With Death of His Beloved Mom

Jane Etta spent most of her life as a school counselor in Oklahoma and lived a humble life with her husband.

Brad Pitt’s mother, Jane Etta, has died at 84. The exact day and cause of her death have not been publicly released. However, Pitt’s niece, Sydney Pitt, shared the heartbreaking news of her grandmother’s passing with her Instagram followers on Wednesday. She shared that Etta had “the biggest heart” and that she taught her “how to paint, how to be strong, how to lead with kindness, to love Jesus through everything, and to find joy in the smallest things.” Etta met Pitt’s father, William Alvin Pitt, at Oklahoma Baptist University and got married in 1962, according to the Oklahoma Historical Society. One year later, Etta gave birth to Brad. They raised Brad and his siblings, Doug and Julie, as observant Southern Baptists in Springfield, Missouri, and encouraged Pitt to become a choir boy. “We grew up surrounded by cornfields,” Pitt told GQ in 2017. Etta and William Pitt, 84, have joined their 61-year-old son on the red carpet a couple of times, including with his former wife, Angelina Jolie. Leading up to Pitt’s appearance at the 2012 Oscars, they prepared biscuits and gravy to celebrate, he told CNN. Etta is survived by her husband, her three children, and 14 grandchildren.