Jerry A. Rose, Jr. loving son, husband, father, brother, Gramps, uncle and friend to many passed from this world on November 19, 2019 into the arms of our heavenly father. Jerry was born in San Antonio, TX on October 29, 1946 to Jerry A. Rose, Sr. and Mildred Bolding Rose. In the early years, Jerry’s family moved from New Mexico to Snyder, TX where he attended middle school and high school. Jerry played numerous sports including football and baseball. After graduating from Snyder High School, he attended Lubbock Christian College and Texas Tech University.
In 1964, Jerry met his wife Cerretha Jones Rose on a blind date in Post, TX. They were not to see each other again until a second blind date while attending Texas Tech. They married on December 26, 1967 at the First Christian Church in Post, TX. In 1968, Jerry and Cerretha had a daughter, Stacy Rahkell Rose. Twenty months later, in 1970, their son Mickey Paul Rose was born.
It was during these early years, that Jerry began his 40 plus year banking career. He started his career in Lubbock, TX at Plains National Bank. In 1981 a lifelong dream became reality when Jerry’s career took the family to Austin, TX. Throughout most of his career, Jerry was associated with community banks. He started in assistant positions and eventually served as President of numerous banks. One aspect of Jerry’s banking career that he really enjoyed was acting as a Supervisory Agent to the Texas Department Of Savings and Mortgage Lending where he assisted ownerships in restructuring takeovers and buyouts.
Jerry loved helping people achieve their goals. He believed in providing great customer service and treating others the way he would want to be treated. One of his proudest accomplishments was helping Morris (Smokey Mo) and Lisa Melchor start their restaurant business. Morris and Lisa recently retired after selling their 16 Smokey Mo’s restaurants. Morris was excited to share with Jerry that he was selling his restaurants in September 2019 and retiring. Morris knew Jerry would have been so proud and excited. Jerry was their number one fan.
Another accomplishment he was so proud of was serving the community. His community involvement included serving as member and president of Westlake Chamber of Commerce, board member and chairman of Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce, and chairman of the Tourism Board of Cedar Park. He also served on numerous other community boards and assisted with many new businesses moving to the Cedar Park area. Throughout his career, he continued to be a community advocate and volunteer.
In addition to his banking career, Jerry worked for the Texas General Land Office as an appraiser and for the Texas Workers Compensation Insurance Fund in premium fraud and marketing/client services.
Jerry loved his family, music, and building lifelong relationships with people. He loved sports, especially the Texas Longhorns. Early in life he played in softball leagues and umpired baseball and football games. One of his most passionate hobbies was playing golf. Jerry and Mickey loved playing in golf tournaments together. He and Stacy treasured many a golf round at Lost Creek Country Club where they would play until the sun went down.
Jerry’s proudest accomplishments were marrying Cerretha, having Stacy and Mickey and being Gramps to Jackson Rose. He always cheered them on in life and their careers. He loved them dearly and was always there for them.
Jerry is survived by his wife of 51 years, Cerretha; his daughter Stacy Rose (Rhonda Barker) of Austin; his son, Mickey Rose and grandson, Jackson Rose of Austin; sisters Diane Brown of Galveston and Teenie Kelley (Freeman Kelley) of Kingwood; sister-in-law LaRue Jones of Levelland and brother-in-law Gomer Custer of New Braunfels; nieces D’Les Jones of Dallas, Tammye Custer-Heefner (David Heefner) of New Braunfels, Shay Cox of Clyde, Brandi Anderson of Kingwood, and Jaime Cash (Kelley Cash) of Big Spring; nephews Steve Jones (Carrla Jones) of Levelland and Lance Leatherwood (Cheryl Leatherwood) of Cypress. Jerry is also survived by great nephews Garrett, Dylan and Wyatt Cox, Logan and Sklyar Leatherwood, Ashton Raschke, and Tye Jones; great nieces Katherine, Abby and Elle Anderson, Katie Salge and Jennifer Heefner, Leslie Riddle, and Caycee Taylor and Cyanne Jones. He loved telling stories and sharing his nuggets of wisdom with all the family.
Thank you for being here today to celebrate Jerry’s life. Jerry loved life to the fullest, he was a good man, loved and respected by many. He will be missed. He fought a valiant fight to the very end of his life against the devastating disease of Alzheimer’s.
