Jerry Wayne Adcock

Jerry was born on May 15, 1938 in Dardanelle, Arkansas to Jesse and Grace (McBride) Adcock. He was the youngest of five. Jerry was a member of the Dardanelle High School Class of 1956, where he played quarterback for the Fighting Sand Lizards and marched in the band at half-time, playing either trumpet or slide trombone. He attended Arkansas Tech University where he was a member of the marching band, the jazz and dance bands, and the Army ROTC program. While at Tech, Jerry also served as an Army National Guard Reservist. In 1957 his unit was deployed to Little Rock to facilitate the historic integration of Central High School.

Jerry married his sweetheart, Emma Josephine Fulton in 1959 and was commissioned as an officer into the US Army in 1960. Jerry and Jo had 3 children before he was called to serve two tours in Vietnam (1966-67 and 1968-69). As a helicopter and then fixed-wing pilot, Jerry was awarded numerous honors for his service in Vietnam including the Distinguish Flying Cross for heroism related to flight when he volunteered to fly into a landing zone that was on fire; two Bronze Stars for heroic service during non-aerial combat operations; 37 Air Medals including at least one Air Medal with Valor for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight operations. Toward the end of his military career in mid-1978, Jerry did a tour in Iran serving as a US Military Advisor for the training of Iranian pilots on US aircraft. This fateful tour of duty was immediately impacted by the Iranian Revolution and in January 1979, his duties quickly transitioned to planning and overseeing the evacuation of all Americans from the southern half of Iran. In June of 1979, Jerry was awarded the Joint Service Commendation Medal as a result of his extraordinary contributions to the evacuation of over 12,000 American civilians without a single major incident or injury. He was one of the last Americans that made it out of Iran with the exception of American Embassy personnel who ended up being at the center of the Iran hostage crisis in November 1979. Upon his retirement as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1983, Jerry was awarded the Legion of Merit Medal for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements. After retiring from the military, he and Jo moved to the great state of Texas and Jerry took a job as a Junior ROTC instructor at Richland High School where he worked to instill discipline, leadership and honor into the lives of hundreds of young Americans. He and Jo lived in Southlake until his second retirement in 1999, after which they moved to their beautiful home on Lake Fork. Jerry and Jo enjoyed almost 20 years in the Lake Fork community, where Jerry was a loyal member of the North East Texas Choral Society and the Hopkins County Military Coalition which provided military honors for the funeral services of numerous local veterans. He also served on the board of their neighborhood association and was one of the founders of the Lake Fork Golf Course Men’s Golf Association. He and Jo were also faithful members of Lake Fork Baptist Church until their final move to Plano, Texas in 2018. Jerry’s love of and service to his country were only surpassed by his love and dedication to his family. He was never happier than when he was with his grandchildren on the golf course or at a table playing a game of pitch or poker.

Jerry is preceded in death by his beautiful wife of 61 years, his parents, and his siblings: Ayleen Adcock Banks (Louis), Glen Adcock (Audrey), Albert “Sonny” Adcock (Donna), and Barbara Adcock Willis (Tom). He is survived by his three children, Jeffry Adcock (Michelle), Jill Adcock Barclay (Bret), and Joy Adcock McHargue (Patrick); seven grandchildren, Christopher Adcock (Marissa), Garrett Adcock (Natalie), John Houston, Scott Houston (Traci), Rachel Barclay Brachtenbach (Steve), Benjamin Barclay (Shannon), and Kaitlin McHargue Fedro (Evan); and eight great grandchildren, Emery, Jackie, Lily, Thomas, Sam, Hannah, Emma and, soon to be born, Ash.