Jerry Lee Boatman, 82, of Unionville, Missouri, passed away surrounded by his loving family in Lincoln, Nebraska, on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
Jerry was born in Mercer County, Missouri, on November 29, 1940, the son of Arthur Edwin “Jack” and Velda Kathleen (Clapham) Boatman. He spent his childhood years in Harris, Missouri, where his parents ran the Boatman Oil Company, filling cars with gas and people with delicious pies. Jerry graduated from Newtown-Harris High School in 1958. He then attended Northeast Missouri State Teachers College (now Truman State University) where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Jerry worked for the Harris Bank Company in Harris for one year and then married JoAnn Wells at the Newtown Christian Church in Newtown, Missouri, on September 28, 1963. They moved to Columbia while JoAnn was finishing journalism school at the University of Missouri and Jerry went to work for MFA Oil Company. In 1965, they moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma, when Jerry started work for Sinclair Oil and Gas; that company changed hands to Atlantic Richfield in 1972, and Jerry and JoAnn moved to Dallas, Texas, to continue with the company. The creation of the Alaska Pipeline led to a move to Anchorage in 1976. Jerry and JoAnn raised their children in Alaska and returned to Missouri each summer to visit family until Jerry retired in 1995 and they returned, living in Kirksville. They eventually moved to Lake Thunderhead in Unionville.
Above all else, Jerry found joy in providing for his family. He loved his family unconditionally. He had a life with opportunities to explore many interests, including fishing, painting, camping, balancing checkbooks, pinstriping his lawn, eating steak and potatoes, drinking midnight glasses of milk, and working hard at a job he did well. He expressed love through jokes and ornery teasing of those close to him, and he cared deeply about his family and friends.
Jerry is survived by his wife, JoAnn, and three children: son Brett Boatman of Olympia, Washington; daughters Melinda (Jeff) Henson of Lincoln, Nebraska, and Rebecca (Billy) Thurman of Camas, Washington. His four grandchildren are Ella and Mara Henson, and Will and Wyatt Thurman. He is also survived by a brother, John (Carol) Boatman of Sedalia, Missouri. Jerry was preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Jim Boatman.
Funeral services for Jerry will be at Playle & Collins Family Funeral Home in Unionville, Missouri, at 2:00 pm on Sunday, January 8, with a visitation one hour before the service. Interment will be at the Lucerne, Missouri cemetery.
Memorials may be made payable to the Lucerne Cemetery and entrusted to Playle and Collins Family Funeral Home, 709 S. 27th St., Unionville, MO 63565.
