Jere Alan Devilbiss

Jere Alan DeVilbiss, a beloved husband, father and military veteran, passed away on September 19, 2024 at the age of 88. Born on August 20, 1936 in Ainsworth, Nebraska to Marion Leslie DeVilbiss and Bernice Paradise DeVilbiss. Jere graduated from Ainsworth High School in 1954 before attending the University of Nebraska where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics in 1958. Upon graduation, Jere became an officer in the U.S. Airforce and attended Texas A&M University for training to become an Air Force meteorologist. After a tour in Okinawa Japan, he left uniform for a year (as a civil servant in St Louis at the Defense Mapping Agency) prior to returning to uniformed service where he subsequently earned a master’s degree in meteorology from the University of Oklahoma and served two operational tours overseas in the Vietnam War.

In 1960, Jere married the late Joanne Diller Hertzler of Goshen, Indiana. They raised three sons, Rex, Stewart and Edward and were married for 60 years.

During his esteemed career as an Air Force Officer, Jere served primarily as a meteorologist with interesting assignments to a flight training squadron and culminating in commanding the weather detachment at Altus AFB, OK. After subsequently serving as a Missouri area administrative coordinator for ROTC while living in Ashland MO, Jere moved the family to Columbia MO in 1976 to serve on the ROTC faculty as an instructor at the University of Missouri. Jere culminated his time in uniform service commuting from Columbia to serve as Chief Duty Officer at Global Weather Central located at Offut AFB, near Omaha NE.

After retiring from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1980, Jere discovered another passion in teaching as a math instructor on the University of Missouri-Columbia faculty until his second retirement in 1992. Throughout his life, Jere was a member of the United Methodist Church, an active volunteer and avid Cornhuskers sports fan. In 2021, he married Gloria Reading of Edwardsville, IL, and they spent recent years traveling and enjoying their retirement together. Jere’s hobbies included genealogy, clock collecting, where he served as the chairman of the Missouri watch and clock collector’s chapter, woodworking, and card game competition to include bridge and cribbage (a family tradition).

Jere is survived by his loving wife, Gloria Reading; his sister, Judith Ward of Denver CO; his sons; Rex DeVilbiss (Marlene) of Lee’s Summit, MO, Stewart DeVilbiss (Beth) of Dayton, OH and Edward DeVilbiss of Columbia, MO; his grandchildren: Alex DeVilbiss (Devon) of Aurora, CO, Ben DeVilbiss (Bailey) of Naples, FL, Adam (Caitlin) DeVilbiss of Centerville, OH, Aaron DeVilbiss of Columbus, OH and Clayton DeVilbiss of Kettering, OH; and his great-grandchildren: Olivia DeVilbiss, Isaac DeVilbiss and Reese DeVilbiss. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Joanne DeVilbiss of Goshen IN.

A visitation will be held at the Memorial Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Park Cemetery, 1217 Business Loop 70 W, Columbia, MO 65202, on October 13, 2024, at 1:00 p.m., followed by funeral services at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) at www.wounded warrior project.org.