Jay C "Jerry" Parr Jr. 12/20/1937 - 6/2/2020
Jerry passed away peacefully at Watermere Discovery Village
in Southlake, Texas, after 3.5 years of their excellent care.
He often said "what a nice hospital," even though he gave them a hard time occasionally. Jerry suffered from Parkinson's Disease.
Jerry was born in San Antonio at the military hospital. He grew up an "Army Brat," as the
oldest child of Jay C and Mabel Parr. He traveled the world and many states including New Jersey, Germany and Japan. He returned to San Antonio to graduate from high school and earned a BA degree in Mathematics from the University of Texas in Austin.
His career was in the computer business in systems engineering and marketing. He retired from IBM as a marketing executive in 1993. After retirement he formed a small information systems
Jerry and Margene have been married
Throughout his life, Jerry stayed very active outside of work. He joined Rotary Club in
Richardson, Texas in 1976. In 1997 he moved to the Rotary Club of Gainesville, Texas. He held many positions and received several awards.
Jerry was also involved with the Boy Scouts, YMCA and Richardson's youth sports programs. He was a loaned executive to the Dallas United Way after he retired, and was active in the First United Methodist Church. He was elected trustee of the North Texas Medical Center in Gainesville and served from 1998-2008. He was also elected to serve on the board of Lake Kiowa after they moved there from Richardson 25 years ago.
After retirement, Jerry and Margene moved to Lake Kiowa full time, and built a permanent home from the cabin the family had enjoyed for many years. They finally settled at Watermere Senior Living Community, where Jerry served on the volunteer board the first year there. It has been a great place to live.
Jerry loved to travel and have adventures for his family. Some memories include: Car trip to south of Mexico City, snow skiing in Colorado, musical in New York City, London, England with 2 granddaughters to visit daughter, Disney World in Florida, Boston with 2 grandsons to visit Jerry's sister, Alaska Cruise with all 19 family members for their 50th anniversary, and many fun times at Lake Kiowa water skiing, fishing, and golfing. Jerry and Margene also had many trips together for business with IBM and Rotary Club International, and for fun with family and friends.
Because our family cannot plan a service for Jerry due to the corona virus, we have decided to have a "Zoom Meeting" with the family on our computers. In honor of Jerry being a computer whiz his entire life, we can visit and enjoy his memory like this for now. Maybe later in the year we can have a physical memorial service for everyone at Whites Chapel First United Methodist
If you like, in lieu of flowers, you can donate to the American Parkinson's Disease
Association in his honor by calling 800-223-2732 or visiting their website at apdaparkinson.org.