Jerry Wallis Kitchens was born on December 12, 1942, and passed peacefully on May 12, 2026, surrounded by the love he spent his lifetime building. A man of tireless hands, a generous heart, and an uncanny ability to fix anything that dared to stop working, Jerry lived a life measured not in milestones but in the people he touched. 

Jerry served his country with distinction in the United States Air Force in the 1960s — a chapter of his life that instilled in him the discipline and work ethic that would define everything that followed. After his service, he put those skills to use at LTV (Ling-Temco-Vought) in the Dallas area, where he worked on jet aircraft. He also drove delivery routes for Coca-Cola, covering the Dallas area with characteristic dependability.

In 1965, Jerry married the love of his life, Betty Jo Kitchens. Their union — strong, steady, and full of laughter — lasted more than 60 years, a testament to the devotion they both carried. In 1966 they welcomed their son, David, and in 1970 the young family pulled up stakes in Dallas and planted roots in Gilmer, Texas, a move that would shape the rest of Jerry's story.

In Gilmer, Jerry became a man of many trades — plumber, electrician, and for more than a decade, a skilled contractor specializing in drywall and paint. He built things with his hands that are still standing today. When his son David headed off to college around 1984, Jerry made a quiet but pivotal decision: he took over the family business, Kitchens' Bait, located out on FM 852 near what would later become Lake Gilmer. For years, Jerry ran a wholesale bait operation supplying the lakes of East Texas, becoming a familiar face to fishermen and a reliable partner to the sporting community he loved.

Alongside everything else he built with his hands, Jerry was an avid woodworker for more than ten years. His creations were not kept to himself — he shared them freely, and many people carry a piece of his craftsmanship in their homes today. Perhaps none tells his story better than his first prototype Bible box, crafted more than 30 years ago from the very trees that stood on the property where David grew up in Gilmer. That box has traveled far from East Texas — it now sits in David's studio in Burbank, California, a quiet daily reminder of his father's hands and the land they both came from.

Jerry was also a devoted uncle, and his nieces and nephews adored him. He had a special gift for making the younger generation feel seen, heard, and loved — whether he was telling a story, fixing something they brought him, or simply sitting with them a spell. That warmth extended to every generation around him.

In 2023, Jerry and Betty made their final move to Gladewater, Texas, where Jerry spent his remaining years doing what he always did best — talking to anyone who'd sit a spell, taking apart anything that didn't work, and putting it back together better than before.

Jerry Wallis Kitchens is survived by his wife, Betty Jo Kitchens, and his son, David Kitchens. He will be deeply, truly missed — by family, by neighbors, by nieces and nephews who grew up in the warmth of his presence, by strangers who somehow always left a conversation with him feeling a little better about the world.