Jerry Jo Tees

Jerry Tees passed away in an area hospital after a lengthy illness on July 17, 2024. She was 81 years old. Jerry was born to Delbert and Nina McNeely in Wills Point, Texas. Her greatest childhood joy while living in this small East Texas community was riding bareback all over town on her horse Nancy. Jerry’s family later moved to the Lake Highlands neighborhood in Dallas where Jerry grew up, graduating in 1961 from Bryan Adams High School. She married a Methodist Minister in the mid-1960’s, moved to Nebraska and in 1967 bore her only child, Joel Elrod. The marriage ended in 1972, and Jerry moved to Kansas City to join the national staff of Planned Parenthood.

While working for Planned Parenthood, Jerry enrolled at The University of Nebraska at Omaha where in 1975 she was awarded a Bachelor of Science degree in Social Welfare. Jerry returned to Dallas after graduation and accepted a management position with Kaiser Permanente, a medical conglomerate with offices in Dallas. She advanced quickly from managing one of Kaiser’s small medical offices in Dallas to management of the firm’s largest Texas medical office in Medical City Dallas. With Kaiser’s departure from Dallas, Jerry returned to higher education at The University of North Texas in Denton. She graduated in 1984 with a Master of Science degree in Health Education.

In the early 1980’s while working at Kaiser, Jerry associated herself with four women-friends who chose the name Five Easy Pieces to characterize the fun they always had in each other’s company. One of these friends, Cindy Potter, won 28 individual national titles to become the winningest woman diver in U.S. history. Jerry loved running, and in 1984 she completed the Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot, the largest Thanksgiving event of its kind in the United States. About this time, Jerry met, fell in love with and in 1985 married David Tees who was to be her love companion and traveling buddy for the rest of her life.

In Arlington, where she lived with her husband David, Jerry developed an interest in community affairs. Hard work as a volunteer in soliciting new chamber members won Jerry a Wrangler of the Year award from the Arlington Chamber of Commerce. She was also recipient of the President’s Award from the Tarrant County Heart Association. Jerry served as board chair for Girls Inc. of Tarrant County and was Advisory Board Chair in 2010 for Arlington Animal Services. She also served the city of Arlington as a member of that city’s nine-member zoning board of adjustment.

Perhaps Jerry’s proudest achievement was being a co-founder in 2003 of MPAC. MPAC is a non-partisan group of women actively involved in discussing local issues and elections and taking actions intended to make Arlington a better place to live. MPAC celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2023.

Jerry was an active donor to charities and other area organizations that had real meaning for her. One of these, with her husband David, was creation in 1998 of the David and Jerry Tees endowed scholarship fund at The University of Texas at Arlington. The fund has provided financial assistance to date for at least 30 men and women seeking graduate degrees at that institution.

A private graveside service with family and friends will be held for Jerry at Sunset Memorial Park in San Antonio later this fall. A donation in Jerry’s memory can be made as a tribute/memorial gift to the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, https://access.fwsymphony.org/donate/contribute1.