Dr. Gerald Hampton

Dr. Gerald "Jerry" Marshall Hampton passed away on Friday, Aug. 8, 2014, at the age 74 while vacationing in Sedona, Arizona. Jerry was born on Jan. 11, 1940 in Swansea, South Carolina, son of Geraldine and Avery Hampton, brother to Fran and raised by his beloved grandmother, Dora Redmond. Jerry attended Riverside Military Academy boarding school in Gainesville, Georgia, and went on to the University of Washington in Seattle, where he trained in ROTC and received his bachelor's in business. Jerry joined the U.S. Air Force after graduation and served as a Minuteman Missile Launch Officer from May 1963 through August 1969. While serving on the Ellsworth Air Force base in South Dakota, Jerry met Dorle, who was visiting her sister, Margret, and brother-in-law Dr. Charles Snyder. After a short courtship, Jerry and Dorle married on Dec. 27, 1964. In 1967, while in the Air Force, Jerry received his MBA from Ohio State University's Max M. Fisher College of Business and celebrated the birth of his first child, Tobias Kai Hampton. Jerry left the Air Force to pursue an academic career, returning to the University of Washington in Seattle and ultimately received his marketing Ph.D. in 1973. Jerry's first teaching position was at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon, where he welcomed his second son, Oliver Alexander Hampton. Jerry went on to teach at Seattle University from 1976 to 1986, San Francisco State University from 1986 to 1992, and New Mexico State University from 1992 through 2014. Jerry enjoyed playing golf with his friends and family, traveling the world, and having heated political debate.

He is survived by his wife, Dorle, sons Tobias and Oliver, daughter-in-law Dr. Lauren Lucille Brusco, and granddaughter Olivia Carmen Hampton. A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Getz Funeral Home, 1410 E. Bowman Ave., Las Cruces, NM, followed by a reception at the Double Eagle, 2355 Calle De Guadalupe, Mesilla, NM. Arrangements are with Getz Funeral Home, 1410 E. Bowman Ave., Las Cruces, New Mexico. To sign the local online guestbook please visit www.GetzCares.com.