Gerald "Jerry" Newman

Gerald “Jerry” Clay Newman, age 71, of Gatesville passed away Tuesday, January 13, 2015. Funeral services will be 11:00 a.m., Monday, January 19, 2015 at Scott’s Funeral Home Chapel. Burial will follow at Murphree Cemetery in Evant. Jerry was born on August 4, 1943 in Lynchburg, Virginia to the late Ralph Carl Newman and Hettie Logan Clay Newman. He attended school in Hamilton, Texas and continued his education at T.S.T.I, receiving his diploma in Water and Waste Water Management Studies. In November of 1969, Jerry and Deborah were set up on a blind date by Hayden O’Neal. He asked for her hand in marriage the very next morning. They were married on December 22, 1969. They celebrated 45 years of marriage this past December. Jerry worked for North Texas Municipal Water District in Wylie, Texas until the age of 32. The family lived in Garland, Texas until 1976, when they moved to his hometown of Hamilton, Texas. They raised their four children in Hamilton until 1991, when they moved to Gatesville, where he lived until his death. In Jerry’s spare time he enjoyed fishing, hunting, sitting on the back patio chatting with Kennerd and numerous other friends while cooking on his barbeque pit. He also enjoyed running around town with his good buddy, Dr. Ping Tan, each trying to keep the other out of trouble, to no avail. He enjoyed his bird feeders and rain gauges and would fuss at anyone who ran the rain gauges over in his front yard. He loved the “Big Bang Theory”, World War II movies, “All in the Family,” and Johnny Carson. He loved his Shiner Bock and loved to kick back some cold ones with family and close friends. He loved his kids and grandkids, taking great pride in telling them really great stories about his life. From the age of seventeen, Jerry was told by many doctors that he would never walk again. He proved them all wrong by walking almost up to the day he passed. Jerry was a stubborn man. Even when faced with a terminal diagnosis he carried on with his head held high, surrounded by his family and friends. On August 9, 2014, Jerry was baptized by Irene and Raul Salcido on the front porch of his home surround by his family. Jerry passed peacefully at home with his wife, Deborah, by his side the entire time. Cancer may have taken his body but Heaven has his soul. Jerry is survived by his wife of 45 years, Deborah Newman; son, Carl Boone Newman of Justin, TX; daughters, Charlotte Smith of Fort Worth, TX, Catherine Highland of Denver, CO, and Tania Holbrook of Killeen, TX; sisters, Judy Summers of Hamilton, TX and Nancy Newman of Waco, TX; brothers, Bobby Newman of El Paso, TX and Bill Newman of Horseshoe Bay, TX; and 12 grandchildren.