Mr. Jerry Lee Berry

Jerry Lee Berry, 81, passed away on Friday night, December 19, 2014 at MS State Veterans Home in Jackson from vascular dementia. Visitation will be held at Chancellor Funeral Home in Byram on Sunday, December 21, 2014 from 4pm to 6pm. Funeral services will be held at Wynndale Baptist Church in Terry at 10am on Monday, December 22, 2014 with visitation one hour prior to the services. Interment will follow at Hopewell Cemetery outside Crystal Springs, MS. Mr. Berry was born in Hopewell, MS on July 31, 1933 to Henry W. Berry and Verna Lee Berry. He is predeceased by his parents, a brother, Frances Lee Berry and his in-laws, Rev. Cooper Hartley and Sue Spikes Hartley. Mr. Berry graduated from Crystal Springs High School in 1953 and furthered his education at Co-Lin Jr. College and Mississippi College completing Bachelors, Masters and Specialist degrees in business education and counseling. He taught business education for nine years in MS schools at Darling, Lexington, Brandon and Jackson’s Central High School. He retired in 1991 after 26 years as Guidance Counselor at Wingfield High School. Mr. Berry touched the lives of many students during his years of service. Mr. Berry served in the United States Navy for 2 years as the captain’s yeoman aboard the USS Ajax stationed in Japan and then 4 years in the Naval Reserve in Jackson. Mr. Berry was an educator by profession, but he was a self-taught horticulturist as his avocation was his vegetable garden and his lovely daylilies and roses. The city of Jackson honored him on two occasions with Yard of the Month and a feature story in the Clarion Ledger and Soil Conservation Service paid tribute to him with their publication. Jerry met his wife, Robbie Hartley Berry, another Jackson educator, in 1961 and they were married on March 12, 1961, and would have soon celebrated 54 years of marriage. To this union were born two sons, Doug and Kevin. Jerry enjoyed traveling and he and Robbie took their children to many places of interest in the United States. After retirement they continued their travels until his health declined and with friends visited other sites and took several cruises with the highlight of them being the two trips to Alaska. Mr. Berry was a member of Wynndale Baptist Church in Terry. He was an active participant in the JOY Sunday School Class, the Sr. Adult Choir and Wynndale Winners. Mr. Berry is survived by his wife, Robbie, sons, Charles Douglas Berry (Shannan) of Peachtree City, GA and Kevin Lee Berry (Michelle) of Raymond, MS. He is survived by six grandchildren, Brannon Lee Barry (Addie) of Madison, MS, Brittany Berry of Brandon, MS, Jack Berry, Mills Berry, Burke Berry and Kell Berry of PTC, GA and one great-grandchild, Gunner Lee Berry of Madison, MS, a sister, Linda Berry Clark (Doyle) of Florence, MS, a brother, Sidney Berry of Crystal Springs, MS, two sisters-in-law, Dorothy Phillips (Bill) of Grenada, MS, and Patsy Little (Rainey) of Starkville, MS, and many nieces, nephews and cousins. Memorials may be made to Wynndale Baptist Church Sr. Adult Program, or the MS Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.