Jerry Claire (Lesikar) McIlwain

A visitation will be held Saturday, September 26, 2026 from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. Funeral services are scheduled for Sunday, September 27, 2026 with visitation before beginning at 10:00 AM with Deacon Bill Scarmardo officiating. A family burial will follow. The visitations and funeral service will be held at Earthman Bellaire Funeral Home, 4525 Bissonnet St, Bellaire, TX 77401.

Jerry was born in 1935 in Palestine, Texas, one of four children born in two sets of twins. Her birth was a local sensation: there were no other twins in Palestine at the time, much less two sets in one family. Jerry and her twin brother were pushed in a buggy in the town’s Fourth of July parade, just behind the mayor and their older twin sisters. Photos of the twins appeared in local newspapers, as well as the Dallas News and New York Times.

Jerry grew up in Houston’s Rivercrest neighborhood, back when Westheimer was still a shell road. From a young age, she stayed busy. At 14, she and her family spent nearly every night and weekend for more than a year building their family home. She was athletic, swimming competitively and riding horses. She exercised horses for neighbors in exchange for riding privileges and showed horses for prospective buyers at Parish Stables.

She met her future husband, Clarence Ray McIlwain, while they were students at Lamar High School. He was seeing someone else at the time—a young woman described by some as “hot to trot”—but Clarence quickly saw reason and began dating Jerry. They were together for more than 50 years and welcomed two children, Cathy and Brian, and later, two grandchildren, Kyle and Kristina.

Family, and especially children, were important to Jerry. She taught early childhood development for four years and later volunteered at Herod, Lovett, and Askew Elementary Schools with her children and grandchildren. She was also an active leader of Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts. She and Clarence were devoted grandparents, spending lots of quality time with Kyle and Kristina and organizing first-rate egg hunts every Easter. On more than one trip from Bryan to Houston, Jerry arrived with a pill bottle full of dead scorpions in her purse for the benefit of a city-raised grandchild who had never seen one.

Some of Jerry’s happiest times were spent outdoors with her family. She loved camping, boating, fishing, and water skiing at Somerville Lake, and in 1981 she and Clarence bought property at what would become one of her favorite places: Camp Creek. They spent decades happily clearing and burning brush, entertaining generations of friends and family, and quietly sitting on the swingset listening to the birds.

Jerry had many talents, interests, hobbies, and friends. She channeled her artistic talents into stained glass, creating countless doors, full-window panels, lamps, and candle holders. She loved dogs and competed with one of her favorites, an Irish Setter named Cinnamon, in field and obedience trials. She treasured her friendships and rarely lacked for a group to join: Bible study, the Golden Girls Blitz Group of Bryan, the Bayland Community Center’s Senior Group, the Primetimers at Westbury Methodist Church, the Red Hat Society, book club, the Hummel Club, and countless others.

Jerry was an avid reader, a hobby she shared with her beloved sister, Lynda. Jerry would read anything: romances, mysteries, history, and the Sunday Paper. It was a sad day when the TV Guide was discontinued. She made monthly runs to Katy Budget Books to restock on reading material.

We will miss Jerry: her stories; the smell of coffee in the morning; her pragmatism; the stockpile of cereal bars in her purse; and the loud “Hello, Sweetheart!” that would ring out when she saw anyone she’d ever met before. We were lucky to have so much time with her, and we are better because of the time we spent with her.

Jerry is preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, Clarence Ray McIlwain; her parents Eileen Nall Lesikar and Laddie John Lesikar; her twin brother Johnie Nall Lesikar and older sister Laddie Ellen Britton.

Jerry is survived by daughter Cathy Elaine McIlwain Meyer of Houston; son Brian Ray McIlwain and wife Paula of Houston; grandchildren Kyle Richard Meyer of Houston, Kristina Elizabeth Meyer Crump and husband Dan of Washington DC, and stepgrandchild Michael Braden Smith of Kansas City, MO; older sister Lynda Helen Smith of Katy; and numerous nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, we request that donations be made to The Alzheimer’s Association.