Given her compassion for others less fortunate, it should come as no surprise that E. Grace Pilot of Mobile has built Pilot Catastrophe Services into the largest catastrophe adjusting firm in the nation, assisting thousands of disaster victims each year with an innovative approach to putting communities and families back together after disasters strike. Mrs. Pilot and her late husband Walter formed Burch and Pilot and Pilot Adjustment Services in Mobile in 1964 as an independent adjusting firm. In 1983, the couple decided to go into business for themselves and founded Pilot & Associates, Inc. Today, Pilot Catastrophe Services, Inc. employs thousands of employees inside and outside of Alabama with the corporate office in Mobile offices throughout the country and has grown into the nation’s largest catastrophe adjusting firm.
She has been active with the company in various capacities since its inception in 1983 and still serves as secretary/treasurer and director.
Mrs. Pilot was born in Silas in Choctaw County, Alabama, and is the third eldest of ten children. She married her high school sweetheart and the couple moved to Mobile in 1954. She worked with the Haas Davis Packing Company and later joined the Mobile Coca-Cola company in the accounting department before going into the catastrophe adjusting business. Through determination and hard work, she and her children have continued the legacy of her husband.
She is an active and past member of many organizations including the Alabama Baptist Children’s Home, American Society of Women Accountants, and is an honoree of the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Award given to members who show exemplary leadership in the United Way and the community. In 2005, Mrs. Pilot was honored by Beta Sigma Phi as the First Lady of Mobile for her ideas and commitment to others through her daily acts of love, friendship, and generosity.
The E. Grace Pilot Private Foundation supports her efforts to create a positive change in the communities in which she lives and contribute to causes of eternal value. The Foundation provides financial support primarily in the areas of education, community needs, and Christian ministry. The Pilot House of Hope in Shelby County, Alabama, is named in honor of her generous support. The house serves the needs of homeless mothers and their children and offers a safe place in which to live as they work toward independence.
She has served as a member of the board of trustees of Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes which has named Its training and conference center in Birmingham the Dr. E. Grace Pilot Conference Center in her honor.
She has served as special advisor to the president of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, and has been a generous benefactor to the University. In 1994, Howard Payne University honored her with the highest honor given by a university with an honorary Doctoral of Humanities degree. In 2010, “Grace Chapel” on the campus of Howard Payne University was named in her honor.
Mrs. Pilot is the proud mother of five children, sixteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild. All of the children are active in the family business. Mrs. Pilot is a member of Luke 4:18 Fellowship Church.
