Jere Barton Elliott passed away peacefully in his sleep on Monday, September 21, 2020. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Nelda Cherry, first daughter Cherry Lynn, first granddaughter, Misti Dawn Colbath, sister Jackie McCullough and brother Faxon “Pat” Elliott. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Glenna L. Bartels, and his three living children: Son, Jere Barton Elliott, Jr., daughters Blake Elaine Hartzog and Angela Renee Galer, and grandchildren, Hayley Danielle Hartzog, Maggie McKenzie Hope Elliott, Brady Wayne Hartzog and Luke Andrew Taylor.
Jere was born in Dickson, Tennessee on 3/4/1932 to Charles Fletcher Elliott (Pop) and Ruth Hooper (Nanny). He was the middle of three children, his older sister, Jackie, and his younger brother, Faxon “Pat.” He became a mechanical engineer, graduating from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. He married Nelda Cherry September 9, 1955, and had his first two children, Jere Barton Jr., “Bart” and Cherry Lynn. Tragically, Cherry Lynn passed away at five years of age. Jere and Nelda were married until Nelda’s death on September 9, 1967.
In 1968, Jere met Glenna Bartels aka “Sunshine” while working as a mechanical engineer at IBM in Lexington, KY. They went on a date on February 10, 1968 and were married from April 10, 1968 until death they parted, September 21, 2020. Daughter, Blake was born March 12, 1970 in Lexington, KY shortly before they moved to Austin, TX due to a work transfer to an engineering position at IBM. Three years later in 1973, Angela (Angie) was born. They lived in the same house on Rockpoint Drive until 1993 when they moved to their current house in Balcones Woods.
Jere enjoyed working on cars and wood carving in his free time. At one time he had a side business called “The Razor’s Edge” where he sharpened knives and other sharp objects. He also made the knives that he used to do the wood carvings, fashioning the handles and setting the blades with amazing results. Jere and Glenna, also known as Silent Sam and Silly Sally, enjoyed “42” domino parties and church singings. They were pillars of the Northwest Church of Christ, for which Jere assisted in the construction of the new building in 1997, even stepping in a hole and breaking his leg in the process.
He had a wonderfully dry sense of humor that most people might miss if they were not paying attention. As serious as he was a lot of the time, he could cut loose with the best of them. He loved his family, kids, grandkids and his church family and friends dearly and would give anyone the shirt off his back whenever he could, never asking anything in return. He was a great role model to all, both young and old and will be greatly missed by all.
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