Jerry Harrington

(Jan. 22, 2007)

Gerald Inze (Jerry) Harrington, a native of Powell, died Jan. 22 in New Braunfels, Texas. He was 62.

He was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma on Dec. 14, 2006. His death on Jan. 22, 2007, was exactly 14 years to the day after his mother’s death.

He was born Aug. 10, 1944 in Powell to Inze Loss Harrington and Mildred Edith (Rowland) Harrington. He grew up loving and participating in all sports, especially baseball.

Jerry attended the University of Wyoming at Laramie where he was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He always talked about his fraternity brothers and kept in contact with several of them over the years. After graduation he worked for a brief time in the Job Corps in southern Colorado, then was stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army During this time he married Rita Rene Bolinger.

Upon his return to the states, he entered the field of education, teaching and coaching in Arizona and California. He taught math and science, physical education and coached at the San Marcos (Calif.) Junior High School for 32 years. He also became a father to Shannon Leigh and Shelly Lynn. They were his pride and joy. No daddy loved his daughters more.

Other accomplishments include the organization of a 16-team baseball league in north San Diego County, a league which still exists today and involves 24 teams in East and West Divisions. He was a Student Activities Director for his school of over 1,600 students and was elected to an area position that conducted conventions for over 2,000 student leaders from Southern California. He also published yearbooks, developed fliers and promo pieces, and wrote a sports column for the San Marcos Outlook for years.

He continued in his love for sports and was an avid San Diego Padres and San Diego Chargers fan.

Jerry came to know the Lord Jesus as his Savior in 1978, and his life was changed forever. He had a desire to share his faith with everyone he met. He was able to help with organizing the prayer team for a national Promise Keepers meeting. He also became active in character training and abstinence education by presenting information to school boards, teachers and administrators across the nation.

He retired in 2003 and moved to Albuquerque, N.M. He worked as an usher at the Isotopes baseball stadium where he could pursue his love of baseball. While there, he met and married Patricia Lynn Meis on Sept. 2, 2005. They moved to New Braunfels, Texas, on Oct.6, 2006.

Survivors include his wife, Patty; his daughters, Shelly of Phoenix, Ariz., and Shannon of San Marcos, Calif.; stepdaughter, Lynnette Meis of Wesley Chapel, Fla., and stepson, Gordon Meis of Albuquerque; his brother, Robert and wife, Roni, of Houston, Texas, and his brother, Jason and wife, Margherita, of Arlington, Va., as well as numerous nieces and nephews, extended family and friends.