Jerry T. McDowell

Jerry T. McDowell

Cape Canaveral, FL - Some men are remembered for what they said. Jerry T. McDowell was known for what he did.

McDowell, 79, passed Friday, April 23, in Cape Canaveral, Florida with his wife of 55 years, Gaylean Joy Mutter McDowell, and his daughter, Tara Lauren McDowell Smalstig, 45, at his side.

His biggest accomplishments were his wife, Joy, his daughter, Tara, and his grandchildren, Madison McDowell Smalstig, Edward Gehrig Smalstig, and Athena Katherine Smalstig.

While his father (George, a Quaker minister), mother (Dorothy) and older sister (Carolyn) preceded him in death, it's actually quite remarkable that any of his brothers (Kenneth, 82, Nolan, 75, and Steve, 72) is still alive, if, that is, you believe the accounts of Jerry's practical jokes, which included strategically placed clothes lines, pellet guns, cardboard fort fires, ammonia squirt guns and moonshine production.

After a bout with polio as a child that hospitalized him for months, Jerry miraculously blossomed physically, helping lead the Asheboro, North Carolina Blue Comets to a state football title in 1958 as a two-way starter, and went on to play defensive line at Virginia Tech while obtaining a degree in mechanical engineering.

Jerry also helped pay for school through the Southern Railroad Co-Op before taking his first job with Eastman Kodak. Then, after a short stint with Milex as an entrepreneur because of his love of cars, he took a job with Ball Corporation in their zinc processing plant in Greeneville, Tennessee. Jerry subsequently developed the process and US patents for processing copper plated zinc penny blanks.

After spending more than a penny to produce a penny for a number of years in classic US government fashion, the US Treasury awarded Jerry and Ball Corp the first penny contract in 1981, saving the country millions of dollars a year and making Ball millions a year in the process. Jerry's technical expertise and plant leadership took him and his family all over the world. The Greeneville plant still produces nearly all the penny blanks for the US and Canadian governments today, employs hundreds, and has released 300 billion coins into circulation in more than 20 countries.

While enjoying success at Ball, Jerry served on several Boards including the Greene County Bank, the Greeneville Fall Festival, Asbury United Methodist Church, and Tusculum College, for which he served as Chair of the Board of Trustees, and is credited with saving from closure in the 1980s.

But Jerry didn't live to work; he worked to live. He had several interests, all of which he applied the mantra, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well." Jerry was an accomplished tennis player, hunter, and wood worker. Jerry also loved engines, both of the antique single-stroke variety which he collected and used for elaborate gristmill production of McDowell Corn Flour, and of the automobile variety, which he collected, worked on, drove with Joy and sold.

Jerry listened to all three kinds of music- country, western AND bluegrass, and played guitar, mandolin, and banjo.

A Celebration of Jerry's Life will be at The Gathering Church, 9512 N. Walnut, Muncie Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 10:30 am.

Friends may call at The Gathering Church on Saturday, May 22, 2021, from 9:00 am until service time at 10:30 am.

In lieu of flowers, Jerry would love for local contributions to be made to the Yorktown Community Schools Foundation, 2311 N Broadway Street, Yorktown, IN, 47396, or www.yorktownschoolsfoundation.org.