George Jerome Jester

George Jerome Jester SALINA, Kan. -- George (Jerry) Jester was born Aug. 10, 1931 in Greenwood, SC, the only child of George Thomas Jester and Martha Inez Robinson. He was born in his paternal grandparents' home, Will and Sallie Jester. He passed away on 22 April 2015 in Salina, KS. He was 83. Jerry attended grade school in Greenwood, and Junior High and High School at Carlisle Military Academy in Bamberg, SC, (now Camden Military Academy). He was president of his senior class, Ideal Cadet, captain of the football team and member of the honor council. Following high school, he went one year to Wofford College in South Carolina and then transferred on a football scholarship to the University of Wyoming. He excelled in several sports but especially football where, in 1953, he was voted Most Valuable Player in the Rocky Mountain Conference while playing for the Wyoming Cowboys. On September 7, 2007, he was inducted into the University of Wyoming Football Hall of Fame. He married Florence Johnston in Laramie, WY, in 1955 and was inducted into the Army in 1956. He had his basic training at Ft. Jackson in South Carolina and his first assignment was Tripler Army Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii. Here he played baseball with the local Kaneda's Baseball Team and semi-pro football with the Hawaiian Rams. From Hawaii, he was transferred to Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, DC, and from there to the 97th General Hospital in Frankfurt, Germany. His last assignment with the Army was Irwin Army Hospital at Fort Riley, KS, where he retired in 1976. After retirement, he and his family built a home in Chapman, KS, and he filled his days as a substitute rural mailman, home builder with Bob Perkins, sports referee and grandpa. He and his wife moved to Salina, KS, in 1994. Jerry is survived by his wife of the home; four children, Vicki Sherraden (Bill) of Neosho, MO, Jeanie Nordstrom (Steve) of Parker, CO, Tammie McArthur of Salina and Gregory Jester of Wichita; 12 grandchildren, Ryan Sherraden (Tessa), Sarah Elizabeth Ballard (Eliot), Jennifer Keating (Mark), Jordan Gay, Rachel Nordstrom, Ashley McArthur, Courtney Hurd (Darren), Taylor McArthur, Michael McArthur, Trisha, Macie and Makenzie Jester; and 12 great-grandchildren, Dylan, Ashlyn and Parker Sherraden, Preston, Tucker, and Sawyer Ballard, Jacob, Grace and Noah John Keating, Ryder and Addyson Hurd, and Aiden Weaver. Services were held at Londeen Funeral Chapel in Chapman. He was buried with military honors on Monday, April 27, at the Veteran's Military Cemetery east of Fort Riley.

This obituary was originally published in The Index-Journal (Greenwood, SC).