Jerry Dale West

On Friday, July 29th, Jerry West, 80, won his 4-1/2 year battle with liver cancer when he went home to be with the Lord. Jerry was born in Madisonville, Texas on December 7, 1941 to John Dale and Hazel Cook West. His mom said that when the nurse brought Jerry to her she said “Here’s your little soldier. Pearl Harbor was bombed today.”, to which his mom said “Where’s Pearl Harbor?” Jerry grew up in Centerville, Texas, graduating from Centerville High School in 1960. He loved and excelled in all sports, and he received a full football scholarship to TCU, where he enjoyed being on the travelling squad and started bleeding purple and white for the rest of his life. He always insisted that the Frogs were really the true National Champions of 2010. He married his high school sweetheart, Nelda Starkey West, on June 1, 1962, and they completed his last two years at TCU together. After graduation in 1964, he went to work for Pan American Petroleum (later Amoco) in Fort Worth. In 1965 Jerry was transferred to Amoco’s Houston office where he remained a Petroleum Landman until his retirement in 2000. In April 1967 Jerry & Nelda welcomed their only child, Sandy, who was the joy and delight of his life, probably because she shares so many of his traits. He even forgave her for choosing Baylor over TCU. Anyone who was around Jerry for very long (like 10 minutes) knew that he was an avid hunter and loved the outdoors, especially when the leaves were turning gold in the fall. He enjoyed 65 years of white tail deer hunting in Texas with Nelda accompanying him on at least 55 of these, plus went on many mule deer, elk and antelope hunts in West Texas and the Rocky Mountains, and even a Caribou hunt in Labrador, with Winston Manning and Stan Murff joining him on almost all of these. Jerry and Nelda were long time members of Memorial Baptist Church before joining Champion Forest Baptist Church in 1998. He loved, and was a natural for, his greeter/usher positions at both churches. Mission trips and mission projects became a passion for them at Champion Forest, and he was an active member of the Empowered Life Group there. After retirement, Jerry and Nelda enjoyed traveling, not only by car across the US, but completed 10 cruises, mostly to Europe and Alaska, the latest in June of this year to Iceland, Scotland and England, where Sandy and friends joined them to celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary. Jerry was predeceased by his loving parents, John Dale and Hazel West, his beloved in laws, Bud & Louise Starkey, brother Jim West, sister-in-law Terrilyn Starkey and many other loved ones. Survivors include his wife, Nelda Starkey West, daughter Sandy West, granddog Duke West, brother-in-law Mike Starkey, sister-in-law Darlene West, nieces Stacey (Eugene) Leslie, Stephanie (Chuck) Knoblauch, Rhonda (Brad) Tikulski, great nephews Chace Fryar, Cole Tikulski, Caden and Blake Hebert, great niece Charleigh Knoblauch and special cousin Jane (Bill) Williams. A celebration of Jerry’s life will be conducted Friday, August 5, 2022 at 10:00 AM in the Chapel of Champion Forest Baptist Church,15555 Stuebner Airline Road, Houston, TX 77069, with family visitation an hour before the service begins. There will also be a visitation Thursday night before the service from 5:00 to 7:00 PM at Walters Funeral Home in Centerville. Burial will be at 3:30 PM Friday in the family plot at the Centerville City Cemetery. For those desiring, contributions may be made in Jerry’s memory to the Community Ministry Center Food Pantry at Champion Forest Baptist Church, 15555 Stuebner Airline Road, Houston, TX 77069 or to Mission Centers of Houston, P. O. Box 30417, Houston, TX 77249. Arrangements are entrusted to Walters Funeral Home, Centerville, Texas.