Jerry D. Lane, 76, originally from Turkey, Texas and currently from Paris, died on October 27, 2024.
Jerry was born August 14, 1948, to Bill and Juanita Lane. He was the third child of six, with an older brother and sister, Bill and Brenda, and two younger brothers and a sister, David, Joe, and Suzanne. As a young man, he worked the family farm, played football, and loved to dance. After graduating from Turkey High School in 1966, he enrolled at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, one of the first of many Lanes to attend.
At Tech, he studied business and joined the Saddle Tramps, where he led the fundraising campaign for the installation of the iconic Texas Tech seal statue. He also met Carolyn “Boodie” Henderson at Texas Tech and married her on May 23, 1970. After graduation, he began his banking career with First Federal Savings and Loan of Lubbock, starting off in the mail room and eventually becoming a vice-president. They have two children, Courtney and Clint, who were raised in Amarillo and Lubbock. They moved to Plano in 1992, moved to Ladonia in 2015 and to Paris, Texas, in 2018.
Jerry was a serial entrepreneur, starting and running several successful businesses, including Shamrock Savings and Remington Mortgage, but he loved returning to his roots in Turkey to raise his cattle, and eventually started Remington Angus Ranch with his son Clint, which was first based in Ladonia, then moved to Paris, Texas. He loved black cows and green grass and was affectionately called by loved ones a “reverse tornado” because he wrought a trail of mass construction in his wake.
Jerry served his community and his church wherever he went. He served as the President of Texas Boys Ranch, a residential community for at-risk children in Boys Ranch, Texas. In 1980, he was named as one of five Outstanding Young Texans by the Texas Jaycees. He served in multiple Chambers of Commerce, including those of Lubbock, Amarillo, and Ladonia. He was also an active member of his church. In Paris, he has served as the President of the Board for First Christian Church of Paris as well as being a Deacon, an Elder, and on the Search Committee to bring on new pastors.
Jerry loved his family deeply. He delighted in seeing his seven grandchildren excel and attended as many of their events as he could. Despite his ongoing health issues, he doggedly attended local baseball, volleyball, and basketball games to cheer on Jacob, Joe, and Alexa at North Lamar, and also traveled to Sarasota, Florida, and Sacramento, California, to watch Mattie and Anna row in championship regattas. He loved when they worked the cattle with him, proudly teaching them how to build fence, feed, and drive the assorted farm equipment.
Jerry fought through a host of health issues, starting with back pain leading to two separate surgeries, then through prostate cancer, skin cancer, and finally an aggressive medullary thyroid cancer. He underwent brain surgery to first remove a metastasized tumor in 2020, in the midst of Covid, followed by a complete thyroidectomy shortly thereafter. He was lucky to receive a new drug that successfully kept the cancer at bay for another four years, but the cancer finally overwhelmed his system. He fought back from each of these surgeries and treatments to return to feed his cows, and when he couldn’t do that any more, he kept a close eye on things from his chair in his newly built house on his ranch. He died peacefully at home. He never failed to make friends with each nurse and doctor that he met, asking where they were from and about their family. He was a wonderful storyteller and seemed to have a magical ability to make friends and lead any group in which he found himself.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Juanita Lane, and his brothers Joe and David Lane. Survivors include his wife, Carolyn “Boodie” Lane; his brother Bill Lane of Lubbock, his sisters Brenda Chamberlain of Clarendon and Suzanne Thomas of Spearman; his daughter Courtney Lane and her husband Jon Rowlands and their children, Matilda “Mattie”, Anna, and Noah Rowlands of Ventura, California; and son Clint Lane and his wife, Kristy Lane and their children, Jacob, Joe, Alexa, and Sebastian of Paris, Texas.
A memorial is scheduled at 2pm on November 24, 2024 at the First Christian Church of Paris with fellowship following the service. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to the First Christian Church of Paris.
