Jerry Lee Dawson

The youngest son of Gordon Bryant and Virginia Turner Dawson, he was born on February 18, 1953, in Big Island, Virginia. Growing up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, he was a Boy Scout who enjoyed the outdoors, hunting and fishing, and working on cars and trucks.

A 1971 graduate of Liberty High School in Bedford, Virginia, he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1976 and served as an aircraft mechanic and crew chief for the UH-1N before transitioning to a logistics analyst and training evaluator for RILSD and the MV-22 Osprey Fleet Introduction Team. Over the course of his military career, he was stationed at NAS-JRB New Orleans, MCB Camp Pendleton, NAS-JRB Fort Worth and MCAS New River and executed overseas deployments to Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. While enlisted, Jerry obtained a B.S. in Aviation Management from Southern Illinois University and completed the Certified Financial Planner Program at the University of North Texas. After 20 years of honorable service, he retired at the rank of Gunnery Sergeant. Following his military career, he worked as a Certified Financial Planner at various firms and as a supportability engineer at Bell Helicopter before retiring.

In retirement, he owned and operated AllSynOil LLC and split his time between his home in Watauga and RVing in Hornbeck, Louisiana and Johnson City, Texas. Jerry was a lifelong learner who had many hobbies and interests throughout his life, and he was not satisfied until he mastered each one. Known for his quick wit and love of philosophical conversation, Jerry cherished time spent talking with family, friends, and neighbors.

Jerry is survived by his daughter Leslie Nikki Cobb (Bill) of Austin, Texas, brother Gordon Bryant Dawson Jr. (Martha) of Big Island, Virginia, nieces Victoria Dawson of Big Island, Virginia and Sallie Dawson of Bedford, Virginia, cousins Robert Dawson, William “Buckshot” Dawson, and Charlie Dawson of Coleman Falls, Virginia, granddaughter Caroline Cobb, and many friends he met along the way.

He is preceded in death by his parents Gordon and Virginia Dawson, brother Jack Turner Dawson and niece Jackie Lynn Dawson.

The family would like to thank the staff at Medical City Arlington and extend appreciation to his neighbors for their decades of friendship and help over the last month.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to the Glioblastoma Foundation in Jerry’s honor.