Mr. Jerry Pat Benton's Obituary
Jerry Pat Benton, 90, passed away under hospice care at his home in Pearland, Texas on Saturday, April 4, 2020.
He was born on January 14, 1930 to Earl and Rose (Glass) Benton in Dillard, OK. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife of 60 years, Joyful Lee (Spurlock) Benton; siblings, Betty Walker, Jimmy Benton, Billy Earl Benton and Linda Penny; and Grandchildren; Clayton Lee Ehlinger. Amber Sue Thaler.
Jerry is survived by his brothers, Roger Pat Benton and Mickey Benton; Children; Leslie Ann Thompson, Kelly Sue Ehlinger (Gary), Terri Lynne Thaler (Steven); Jay Patrick Benton (Laura). He was blessed with grandchildren: Chad (Brooke) Ehlinger, Jesse and Carla (Melissa) Ehlinger, Amanda and Andrew Thompson, Samuel (Kaley) and Daniel Stephan (Hannah) , Megan (Bobby) Madget, Stephen and Ian Glenn, Katrina (Kamren) Dukes and Emily Benton and Kevin Thaler and three great grandchildren, Rafe Michael Madget, Delilah Connor Stephan, Woods Ehlinger and many cousins, nieces, nephews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
A child of the Great Depression, Jerry grew up in Oklahoma and graduated from Duncan High School in 1947, Duncan, OK. After High School he joined the Navy in 1948 and served as a Radarman 2nd Class on the USS Sicily CVE-118 during the Korean war—receiving a Navy Unit Commendation. After an honorable discharge in 1952 and as the very first veteran to attend Oklahoma University under the new GI bill (lifelong Boomer Sooner!) he graduated as a Petroleum Engineer. Jerry served as a Full-time Fireman in Norman, OK while attending OU until he graduated.
While working in the oil industry in West Texas, he met and married the love of his life, Joyful Lee Spurlock in 1957 in Kermit, Texas and spent an ‘oil patch’ life moving all over the country with his wife and children… including living in Kuwait for a number of years and learning colloquial Arabic. Jerry was instrumental in the development of advanced recovery systems for oil and using programming very early on to analyze data (writing some of the first code for his company at the time.) He was very well respected by his peers.
Jerry was very intelligent and had a very strong work ethic. He had an ornery sense of humor and was a very good cook. He was courageous beyond measure, had fortitude and endurance, and always encouraging and supportive.
Jerry was a wonderful grandfather—always more than willing to spend time with the kids on listening and teaching them how to do ‘stuff’-- learning how to patch a bicycle tire, build a derby car for scouts, long walks to find treasures (he made them seem like an adventure every time). And he loved the babies—and was known for almost always getting their first big smile.
Jerry has remained strong in his faith and steadfast in his love. He is surely resting in Heaven with his Joyful Lee and ‘Clayman’ and all his loved ones that have gone ahead.
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