Jerry Dean Cox, Sr.

Visitation will be held on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, from 12:30-2:00 pm at Rader Funeral Home in Kilgore followed by a graveside service at the Kilgore City Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. Jerry’s grandchildren will service as pallbearers.
On Tuesday, March 22, 2022, Jerry Dean Cox, Sr., husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather passed away at the age of 88 at the Watkins Logan Veterans Home in Tyler, TX.
Jerry was born on November 14, 1933, to James Monroe and Osa Vera (Vandergriff) Cox in Kilgore, TX. Upon graduation from Kilgore High School, Jerry joined the United States Air Force and was stationed in Gardner, KS where he met and married his wife of 67 years, Judy Lee Dorst. He later attended North Texas State University in Denton, TX.
Jerry owned and operated Rhea Cleaners in Dallas, TX for many years. Following Judy’s retirement from Southwestern Bell, they built custom homes in the DFW metroplex. Eventually they returned to Kilgore to enjoy a slower pace of life. Jerry was a lifelong member of the Church of Christ. He was an avid golfer, competitive horseshoe pitcher, and loved gardening and yardwork.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, three sisters, Eloise Cox, Ferne Florence and Doris Mumford, and a granddaughter, Meggan Tarwater Marasek.
He is survived by his wife, Judy, his three children, Teresa Shobe, Kimberly Earl, and Jerry Dean “Jay” Cox, Jr., his sister, Claudette Jones, seven grandchildren, Zach Tarwater, Mark Hopkins, Kennedy, Trevor, Dillon, and Mason Cox, Emma Shobe, and three great-grandchildren, Jonas and Charlie Tarwater, and Owen Hopkins.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be given in memory of Jerry Cox to The American Cancer Society