Jerry Dale Mask

Jerry Dale Mask (better known as “Pappy”), went to Heaven on Wednesday, January 18, 2023 to be with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and his beloved wife who entered Heaven before him, Peggy Cresswell Mask. Visitation will be 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 22, 2023 at Christ United Methodist Church with a service at 2:00 p.m. Burial will follow in Parkway Memorial Cemetery in Ridgeland.

First things first: Dad lived his life to love God, love his family, love the Ole Miss Rebels, and love to laugh. He wouldn’t want this obituary to be sad and depressing, but rather a brief celebratory look back at his life, which was lived to the fullest with the family which he adored. Some of the highlights are as follows:

Jerry was born on April 8, 1942 in Falmouth, Kentucky to parents Virginia and Moody Mask. During his childhood, he lived with his parents and sisters Barbara and Sue in Kentucky, Florida, and Alabama, with the family finally settling in Mississippi in the early 1950’s as their final landing spot. Jerry would spend his next 70 years in the Jackson area. Dad spent most of his childhood years in Jackson and Pearl, Mississippi, and graduated from Pearl High School in 1960. Jerry attended the University of Mississippi as a freshman and was a member of the Ole Miss Marching Band. However, as Dad worked his way through college and his steady job was back home in Pearl, Jerry transferred to Mississippi College for his final 3 years of undergraduate. It should be noted that Jerry was a very proud graduate of Mississippi College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business. But it should also be noted that his one year in Oxford was all it took to get the old boy hooked for life on the Ole Miss Rebels. Well, as life has a way of working out, Jerry met his future bride Peggy (who graduated from the University of Mississippi) while she was in Clinton for some summer school classes at Mississippi College, and the rest is history.

After graduating from Mississippi College in 1965, Jerry joined the Air National Guard. His basic training was at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, and he was later stationed at Chanute Air Force Base in Rantoul, Illinois. It is worth adding that even until the very end, Dad would tell us stories of how lovesick he was for Mom while he was stationed at Chanute. When he returned to Mississippi, Jerry married the love of his life, Peggy, on December 20, 1966 (the magical date planned, notably, right after Peggy turned 21). Jerry and Peggy honeymooned in New Orleans, Louisiana, as Dad often reminded us that all he could take off work was the weekend! Our mother (“Mimi-Anne”) died on May 29, 2007, and at the time of her death, Jerry and Peggy had been married for forty-one (41) years. But until his death earlier this week, Dad always kept a running total of the years of his marriage, and he’d actually say that Peggy was his wife of 56 years, even though the last 15 years she resided in Heaven. Dad and Mom were both members of Christ United Methodist Church and the New Yorkers Sunday School Class.

In the summer of 1970, Jerry’s name officially changed to “Dad” with the birth of their oldest and most “challenging” child, Chad. Over the next seven years, things improved with the birth of their son Reed and their daughter Laura, and a family had been forged. The Jerry Dale Mask family resided in Jackson, with all three children attending First Presbyterian Day School, Jackson Preparatory School, and the University of Mississippi. Dad provided a wonderful life for his family through his career as a real estate appraiser and investor and businessman. After college, Jerry went to work in 1966 for Workman and Mann, a real estate management company, with his first assignments being manager of Westland Plaza and Meadowbrook Mart retail shopping malls in Jackson. Jerry worked at Workman and Mann for 11 years, and in 1977, he took a risk and opened his own company, Jerry D. Mask, M.A.I. Real Estate. Dad owned and operated his own real company (appraisal and brokerage) for 40 years until his retirement at age 75. He always told us that his plan was to retire at age 65, but when Mom died, he just kept going, because his dream of retiring to travel with his wife had been short-circuited. However, as we will describe in a moment, Dad’s next calling in life as a grandfather would be the role which would put a sparkle back in his eye and be the driving force for the remainder of his life journey. We should also add that Dad was elected President of the Louisiana-Mississippi Chapter of the Appraisal Institute in the late 1970’s, but don’t hold us to the exact date, that was a long time ago.

In 2000, Dad’s name changed once again, this time to his favorite and final name, “Pappy”. Pappy has four (4) grandchildren with Chad and Elizabeth, two (2) grandchildren with Reed and Jennifer, and another one on the way with Laura and Hugh. For the past 23 years, these grandchildren have literally been the light of Pappy’s life. Whether it was attending their sporting events, plays, graduations, or just smothering them with gifts and affection, Pappy (and Mimi-Anne) doted on the grandkids. They kept him going … because they knew how to make him laugh and smile, two of his favorite past-times. If we had to say what Dad’s hobbies were, they were actually quite simple: the Ole Miss Rebels, his grandchildren, a good scotch and water, no ice, and even occasionally his three adult children and their spouses!!

Dad fell and broke his hip in January 2022. The past year was spent rehabbing his hip at Brandon Court Nursing Home, and the last month has been spent at Baptist Medical Center in Jackson, Mississippi dealing with hip-injury related complications. Our family is eternally grateful to the doctors, nurses, and staff at Baptist Hospital and Select Specialty Hospital for giving Dad a high quality of life the past month, and for making Dad comfortable towards the end. We are also very grateful for not only how they helped Dad, but how they also helped us. Dad was surrounded by his loving and doting family when he departed this earth.

Pappy is survived by his children, Jerry Chadwick Mask and his wife Elizabeth, Dr. Franklin Reed Mask and his wife Jennifer, and Laura Mask Trippe and her husband Hugh; grandchildren Tyler Powell Owens, Anna Reagan Mask, Abigail Elizabeth Mask, Chadwick Cresswell Mask, Alayna Alexandra Mask, and Landon Reed Mask, sister Shirley Sue Russell, and numerous nieces, nephews, and extended family. He was preceded in death by his wife, Peggy Cresswell Mask, his father, Moody Mask, his mother, Virginia Gillespie Mask, and his sister, Barbara Gail Cox.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Christ United Methodist Church or the Ole Miss Grove Collective NIL. Ok, maybe the Grove Collective isn’t a proper memorial donation … so we will just designate Christ United Methodist Church.

Pappy will be dearly missed. But his legacy will live on through his children and grandchildren. He taught us well. Hotty Toddy.