It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Jerry Lynn Raper at the age of 74, on Wednesday, December 14, 2022, after a lengthy battle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Bright-Holland Funeral Home has scheduled memorial services for 10:00 a.m. Friday, Dec. 16th at Lamar Avenue Church of Christ with Dr. John Cannon officiating. The family will receive friends at the church one hour prior to the service.
Jerry was born to Hunter Bywaters Raper and Cleo Lenoir Heflin on May 6, 1948, in Paris, Texas. He is preceded in death by his parents and stepson, Steve Shoemake. He is survived by his loving wife, Roxanne; sister, Sharon Pels and husband, Jerry, of League City, Texas; daughter, April Lockey and husband, Curtis of La Jolla, California; son, Aaron Raper and wife, Jamey of Paris; stepdaughter, Gina Korczynski and husband, Steve of Flower Mound, Texas; Traci Shoemake of Paris; seven grandchildren, Jake & Brooks Lockey, Chance Henderson and Finn Raper, Mallory Shoemake, Erin Anthony and husband, Austin, and Connor Korczynski.
Jerry attended Grand Prairie and Chicota schools before beginning a decades long career at Safeway. He later worked at Babcock and Wilcox where he won several awards for his inventions. In his later years, he was a respected painter, painting several of the historical homes and properties in the downtown area. He served on the Lamar County Historical Society and went to great lengths to preserve the history of Paris, Texas. He donated his time and worked tirelessly for years on the renovation of the Lamar County Historical Museum and the Red River Valley Veterans Memorial just to name a few. He was a member of Lamar Avenue Church of Christ.
His true passion was woodworking. He was extremely talented and made a variety of furniture pieces, all by hand without the use of power tools. He build most of the homes he lived in and renovated his building downtown at 134 South Main. He enjoyed reading, studying various topics and enjoyed going to the Paris Library. One of his favorite things was to go to the local coffee shops in the morning with Roxanne. I think he enjoyed giving everyone their first morning laugh! He had a very unique sense of humor, too witty for some to understand. He got a kick out of wearing T-shirts with funny quotes just to make people smile and wonder. He loved traveling with Roxanne and their friends every year to Florida and Mackinac Island, Michigan, and to La Jolla, California.
Some of his most cherished times are the years he worked alongside his son, Aaron. They had a very special bond and share many of the same talents of building and renovations. Nothing gave him more pride than going to visit Aaron on job sites to see what he was working on. He found great joy in all his grandkids and they all thought he was a pretty funny guy.
Jerry always had a great compassion and loyalty toward his family. He was the first to lend a hand to anyone and always put himself last.
Although his life was not long enough, he loved and was loved more than most and we are grateful for the time we had with him.
The family would like to extend a very special thank you to all the ladies at Pine Tree Ranch Assisted Living and to On Call Home Health & Hospice. They made his last year of life comfortable and gave his family the peace that he was well cared for.
In lieu of flowers, please make a donation in his name to the Downtown Plant a Tree Project, or to the Light Up Paris TX Project c/o Paris Downtown Association, P. O. Box 1123, Paris, Texas 75461.
“Basically, I think you need two things to get by in the world, a sense of humor and the ability to laugh.” -Arlo Guthrie
To leave a message or tribute for the family please visit www.brighthollandfuneralhome.com
