Jerry Lee Davis

Jerry Lee Davis: Jerry passed away Tuesday at his home in Glencoe at the age of 69 years, 4 months and 17 days. Jerry's family includes his wife, Barbara of Glencoe, AL; Michelle and Michael Velmont of Palatine, IL; Justin and Nadia Davis currently of Glencoe, AL; two granddaughters: Brookelyn and Victoria Velmont at home in Palatine, IL; a sister, Carol Wonderlich of Oskaloosa; a sister-in-law, Pam Davis of Pataskala, OH; and his mother-in-law, Letha LaRue of Lacey, Iowa. Jerry Lee Davis, son of Gerald Dale and Leah Susan Baker Davis, was born, June 13, 1943, in Knoxville, Iowa. The family also lived in Muscatine and Newton while Jerry was growing up. Jerry was an industrious person even from a young age; as a youngster in Newton and later Oskaloosa, he operated a paper route, washed windows and mowed lawns. After graduating from Oskaloosa High School in 1961, he worked as a sales clerk at the Montgomery Ward's Store in Newton and Oskaloosa. He enlisted in the Army in 1964 and served until 1967, serving a tour in Vietnam. After returning from the service, he was employed at the B.F. Goodrich Tire Store in Des Moines. As fate would have it, he met the love of his life, a young lady from Lacey, just up the road from Oskaloosa, at a donut shop in Des Moines. Jerry married Barbara Jean LaRue, March 22, 1968, at the Lacey United Methodist Church. They made their home in Oskaloosa and Jerry worked as a tire representative for Sieberling Tires, covering Iowa, Indiana and Illinois. While working for Sieberling, Jerry had the opportunity to buy into a tire shop in Jacksonville, IL. Jerry and Barb moved to Jacksonville in 1969 and remained there until 1972, when he sold his interest in the tire shop and moved back to Oskaloosa. Jerry had always had an interest in the insurance industry, upon his return to Oskaloosa; he went to work for Bill Whitaker, selling for Guaranteed Mutual. Jerry later purchased Lytle Insurance and the business would evolve from Lytle and Davis Insurance to Davis Insurance. In 1989, Jerry relocated the business to A Avenue West. Jerry earned various professional designations in his career, achieving the C.L.U. and C.H.F.C. designations. Jerry also held his realtors license. July 1, 2001, Jerry sold his business and in November, he and Barb bought a home on Neely Henry Lake in Glencoe, Alabama. Jerry readily made many new friends and enjoyed fishing and being on the water. He mostly loved visiting with buddies and solving the world's problems over a cup of coffee. Jerry was an avid reader and loved history; being in the south gave him the opportunity to visit many civil war battle sites. Jerry was a member of the V.F.W., the American Legion and the Elks Club in Oskaloosa; he was a member of Southside Methodist Church in Alabama. In addition to his parents, Jerry was preceded in death by a brother, Steven; a brother-in-law, Bob Wonderlich and his father-in-law, Floyd LaRue. PDF Printable Version

Jerry Lee Davis

June 13, 1943 - October 30, 2012