Jerry Ronald Sellers

He was born in 1946 in Ironton, MO to Beulah and Jerry M. Sellers. He was their only child. Beulah was a teacher and Jerry owned a tire shop. “Ronnie,” as his family called him, was a leader in his community throughout his school years. He was the student body president of Lebanon High School and active in football and track. His mom always had two white shirts pressed for him so he could be ready on a moment’s notice to greet the town’s visiting dignitaries as the school’s ambassador.

Jerry was the first in his family to graduate with a bachelor degree. His choice of schools was Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy, where he studied Mechanical Engineering and joined ROTC. He pledged the Beta Alpha Chapter of the Kappa Alpha Order in 1963 with a special group of KA brothers, including Bowser the beer-drinking bulldog.

After graduating in 1969, he completed basic training with the US Army at Ft. Eustis, VA.. Lieutenant Sellers was the Battalion Operations Officer supporting the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Ft. Lewis, WA. Although he was ordered for service in Vietnam, his orders were cancelled two weeks before deployment as President Nixon wound down the war.

Jerry joined Conoco in 1971 as a pipeline engineer on the Continental and Yellowstone Pipelines. He lived and worked in Billings, Montana, Spokane, Washington, and Ponca City, Oklahoma. During his time on the cold plains of the northern Midwest, he investigated crude oil theft, was struck by lightning and patented a novel leak-detection system he termed the “three-jawed ice chuck.” Conoco recognized his promise and fast-tracked him through their rigorous management-training program at headquarters in Houston, where he worked in crude oil trading and international logistics for ten years with his mentors John Kelley and L. F. McCollum.

Recruited from Conoco to be the COO of Texas Energy, Jerry was responsible for international trading, exploration, and real estate ventures. He left Texas Energy after it was sold to a Dutch trading company.

In 1983, a group of investors recruited Jerry to lead the new NCR telecom franchise program. Jerry formed Houston Network as the first franchisee. At a pivotal time for the telecommunications industry and together with a top-notch team, he built a successful company that was later sold to WilTel, a subsidiary of The William Companies, which had the first coast-to-coast fiber optic network.

In 1989, Jerry joined the WilTel board of directors. As the head of strategic planning, product development and innovation, Jerry helped WilTel grow into an enormously successful enterprise. He worked toward telecommunications normalization with Cuba, traveled extensively to create key international relationships, and eventually helped guide the company to its eventual sale to WorldCom.

Following the sale of WilTel , Jerry began another startup in the tech sector as chairman and CEO of Orillion. The company created large telecom network software and operated in the US, Japan, and India. In 2003, Jerry left Orillion to spend more time with his young family.

In 2004, inspired by his wife, Maura’s, local mosquito-control activism, Jerry founded MosquitoZone International to prevent malaria in Africa and Southeast Asia. The company continues to serve the international extractive industry. Jerry retired from the company in 2012 due to health reasons and Maura runs the company today.

Through all of his business dealings, Jerry developed deep and meaningful relationships that endure to this day, including his very special relationship with his wife Maura. They worked together for ten years and married late in life. He always felt deeply indebted to the teams he worked with and grateful for the opportunities he was afforded.

His first son, Reed, was born in 1995 and his second son, Thomas, was born in 1999. Nothing could get in the way of spending time with his boys. He stopped traveling when they were born so he could have breakfast and dinner with the boys every day. Together they camped, sailed, skied, shot sporting clays and spent thousands of hours devoted to the boys’ baseball and soccer pursuits. He taught them how to approach the world, to be kind, considerate and true yet tough and competitive. They were the center of his life.

His is fondly remembered for his love of adventure and loyalty to family and friends. Whether flying in his twin-engine airplane or riding on his motorcycle, climbing mountains or running marathons, he loved the great outdoors and the mountains in particular.

Jerry was preceded in death by his father, Jerry M. Sellers and his mother Beulah Sellers. He is survived by his wife, Maura Sellers, and children Reed and Thomas.

We wish to thank Dr. Uday Khosla, Dr. Abraham Lieberman, and all the amazing staff at Houston Methodist who so kindly cared for Jerry during the four years of his illness. They gave us four more great years with him and we are forever grateful.

A memorial service is to be conducted at six o’clock in the evening, on Wednesday, the 6th of July in the Jasek Chapel of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston, with a reception following.

In lieu of customary remembrances, the family requests with appreciation a contribution to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Houston, 50 Briar Hollow Ln, Houston, TX 77027.