Dr. Jerry Dean Whitt

Jerry Dean Whitt, age 84, passed away January 28, 2021. He was born in Gallatin, Missouri on April 8, 1936 to Frances (Miller) Whitt and Elwood Seymour Whitt. They preceded him in death as did a brother Kenneth Lee Whitt and a sister Sara Jo Whitt. Jerry married Sue Elaine (Yeager) Whitt on June 6, 1964. He is survived by two sons, Kevin Douglas Whitt (Marie Bishop), of Alabaster, Alabama, and Jason Yeager Whitt, of Memphis Tennessee; one granddaughter, Anne Whitt; and four grandsons, Sam Yeager Whitt, Davis Henry Whitt, Calvin Spain Whitt, and August Miller Whitt. He is survived by his two sisters-in-law, Kay Moran and her children, Heather Biles, Caitlin Lobosco, and Jim Moran and Judy McKennan and her children, Kim Knollmeyer, Terry Pfeiffer, and Steven Whitt.

Jerry was a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Memphis and before that, Galloway United Methodist Church in Jackson, Mississippi.

Jerry had an academic career. After completing the PhD degree at the University of Arkansas, he taught at Middle Tennessee State University and Millsaps College, where he was the Dean of the School of Management for several years. Significant accomplishments as Dean were attaining AACSB accreditation (few believed at a school that small), recruiting a great faculty, starting a summer European program, and serving on the business school committee creating African University for the Methodist Church. He also served as Chairman of the Bethlehem Center and of the Jackson Enterprise Center and as a consultant for probational Methodist ministers. He served as Membership Vice President of the Southern Deans organization. Upon retirement, he had a 22-year career as a watercolor artist, primarily with the great artists of the Gaddis Group, and served on the board of the Mississippi Watercolor Society.

There will be no services. Memorials should be given to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or to any organization feeding the poor.