Jerry Patterson

    Jerry Michael Patterson, 77, longtime resident of Lamesa, went to sleep on March 24 and awoke to see the face of Jesus on March 25.
    Jerry grew up in Lamesa and attended Lamesa High School, graduating in 1961. He attended the University of Texas in Austin where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration in June 1966.
    After graduation from UT, Jerry joined the United States Air Force and was a missile control officer, charged with making sure the Minuteman missiles at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota were aimed correctly.
    After serving four years, he and Beth, his wife and best friend, moved to Lamesa where he worked with his father, Neill Patterson, at A.G. Waugh, later becoming the owner. Jerry was an active member of the Lamesa Kiwanis Club for which he served as president from 1982-83. He was selected as Kiwanian of the year in 2007.
    He served on the board of directors of the Automotive Wholesalers of Texas, 1982-83; as president of Lamesa Community Players in 1985, receiving the J.W. Dennis Award in honor of his efforts for the group; and as a Lamesa Chamber of Commerce director from 1993-94.
    Jerry was a committed Christian and member of Cornerstone Fellowship in Lamesa, where he served as deacon and on various committees. He was always ready to help out whatever group of which he was a member and others who needed assistance of any sort.
    He was a hard worker who shared that work ethic with his two sons, Jeffrey Scott Patterson, formerly of Lamesa, now in Seminole, and Jason Elliot Patterson, born in Lamesa and now serving as a major in the U.S. Army in Germany.
    After living in Lamesa for 40 years, upon his retirement, Jerry and Beth moved to Cloudcroft, N.M., a dream shared by both for many years. Jerry loved the cool mountain air, the slow pace of life in Cloudcroft and the new circle of friends at First Baptist Church. As his health began to fade, they moved back to Texas after almost 10 years to be closer to family and good medical facilities.
    Jerry was only able to enjoy his new home in Lubbock for about a month before God called him to his eternal home. He is sorely missed by Beth; his sons and their wives, Nancy Michelle Beck Patterson and Annie Elizabeth Davis Patterson; his eight grandchildren, Sarah, Laura, Hannah, Elizabeth, Haleigh, Jamie and Devereaux; his great-grandson, JC Elliot Sanders; his sisters, Bobette Patterson Horton Doerrie and Rebecca Gayle Patterson and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.
    He was met at heaven’s gate by those who had gone before: his maternal and paternal grandparents; his sister Mickie Hunt; his mother and father, Dorothy and Neill Patterson.
    A celebration of a life well-lived will be held at a date to be determined by the easement of Covid-19 regulations and when Jason Patterson can return from military service in Germany to the United States.
– Press-Reporter obituary services