Jeral Rainwater

Funeral service for Jeral D. Rainwater will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, September 29, 2017 at First United Methodist Church with Pastor A. J. Bush officiating. Cremation will take place following services and private family burial will take place at a later date. Visitation will take place from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Thursday, September 28, 2017 at Walker Funeral Home. Jeral David Rainwater passed away September 26, 2017, at The Legacy Rehab Center.  He was born May 9, 1925, in Muskogee, Oklahoma, the son of William Ira and Vera West Rainwater.  His parents of Tulsa, his twin brother, Jerry Alan, of Norman, Oklahoma, and his older brother, William Ira, Jr.(Bill), of Little Rock, Arkansas, preceded him in death. As high school students he and his twin brother delivered the Tulsa World Daily newspaper before school.  They also had to collect for the paper when they could find their customers home. Following graduation from Tulsa Will Rogers High School in 1943, Jeral enlisted in the Army Air Corps where he learned to fly.  Eventually he served as a B-29 crewman.  He was preparing to go overseas when the war ended. After being discharged he bought a plane but needed to sell it when he got married.   He was one of Gillette’s World War II veterans honored at “A Sentimental Journey” August 29, 2015.  The wonderful musical tribute organized by John Kirk together with a hundred or more Gillette residents, Senator Mike Enzi, and Colonel Larry Barttelbort (retired) was very meaningful for him. After the war he attended the University or Tulsa where he earned a BS Degree and later an MBA Degree in Business.  While a student at TU he became a charter member of Epsilon Mu chapter of Kappa Sigma Fraternity and has maintained that association since 1947. He married Marjorie Louella Akins on July 18, 1947.  They had three children, Jeral David, Jr., Dennis Troy, and Ellen Beth.  They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in July 2017.  David, Dennis, and his son, Bradley, came from Houston.  They joined their sister, Ellen of Gillette, her husband, Jack Robison, and three of their children, Stephanie, Marcy, and Melissa, for a four-day celebration at the Rainwater home. Jeral was hired by The Carter Oil Company in Tulsa.  In 1960 he was transferred to Humble Oil Company, an affiliate, in Houston, before it was renamed Exxon.  Eventually, in 1974, he was transferred to Carter Mining Company in Gillette to work developing coal.  His greatest joy was serving as a pilot for Dutton Aviation and Gillette Air doing mostly aerial pipeline patrol. He loved baseball and played intramural baseball for his fraternity as a pitcher.  He also helped coach his sons’ Peewee, Little League, and Midget ball teams in Tulsa and Houston.  They sat in the bleachers to watch the Colt 45 ball team play before it became the Houston Astros.  They watched as the Astrodome took shape from the ground up. Then they enjoyed seeing the Astros play there. They also enjoyed witnessing the growth of the space program, including a parade to welcome the seven original astronauts to town, attending early space programs at a small building on the present site of the space center, and a huge celebration at the Astrodome after the moon landing. He took early retirement from Exxon in 1982.  During his retirement years he was active in the Gillette Rotary Club, Crime Stoppers, Campbell County Republicans, a volunteer at the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the first Gillette Energizers.  He was a member of the Gillette College Advisory Board during the construction of today’s campus facilities.  He also served on the Pioneer Manor Advisory Board for 25 years. He and his wife enjoyed travel.  Trips included most of the United States, Australia, England, Ireland, and Scotland, Germany and most European countries, including Russia.  They often visited their daughter and son-in-law in their U. S. Air Force stateside and overseas bases. Jeral is survived by his wife of 70 years, Marjorie, and their three children, David and Dennis (Judy) Rainwater, Houston, Texas, and Ellen Beth (Jack) Robison of Gillette.  In addition, he is survived by granddaughters Stephanie, Marcy (Nick Mathis), and Melissa Robison of Gillette, and Susan (William) Dowd of Laramie, Grandson Bradley Rainwater, and Granddaughter Melodi (Nicholas) Duncan of Houston. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials to The Campbell County Senior Center, Gillette College, Rotary Club, or First United Methodist Church of Gillette or an organization of their choice. Memorials and condolences may be sent in care of Walker Funeral Home 410 Medical Arts Court, Gillette, WY 82716. Condolences may also be expressed at www.walkerfuneralgillette.com