Jim Gentry, 89, of Cabool, died Monday, Jan. 21, 2013.
He was born Nov. 3, 1923, in Wichita, Kan., son of Jay J. and Naoma Leake Gentry. He and Mary Lou Burchett were married April 6, 1947.
He moved to Cabool from his boyhood home, Houston, in 1932 and graduated from Cabool High School in 1941. He enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1941 well before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. He served in the South Pacific at Guadalcanal and was wounded in action on Tarawa in 1943, but continued to serve on other island landings and New Zealand. He was part of the Pacific D-Day by landing on Saipan and Tinian. He was discharged in 1945.
He graduated from St. Louis College of Mortuary Science in 1952 and purchased Elliott Funeral Home. In 1953, he was elected Texas County Coroner. He served for 44 years and continued as an active Democrat until health no longer permitted.
He was an avid supporter of the Cabool community and school district. He was a member of the Cabool Development Corp, city council, Jaycees, First Baptist Church, Kabul Nursing Home, Cabool Senior Citizens Housing, Missouri Funeral Directors Association and many more. He was a long-standing member of Cabool VFW and with 35 years of service, was currently the longest standing Kiwanian.
He chaired the fundraising effort for Kabul Nursing Home and was instrumental in helping start Wedgewood Golf Club, the city swimming pool, Gentry Residential Care Facility and Texas County Memorial Hospital.
He loved to sing and was a talented artist. He was an avid fan of the Cabool Bulldogs, Missouri Tigers and Missouri State University-West Plains Grizzly basketball. He supported countless youth sports, including baseball, and city park improvements and area picnic gatherings.
He was an avid reader of many books, including his Bible. He loved sports, especially the St. Louis Cardinals, basketball, football, bowling, golf and NASCAR racing.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mary Lou, in 2008; and an infant son, Ronald H. in 1949.
Survivors include a daughter, Peggy of Cabool; a son, Jay Gentry of Cabool; two grandsons; two great-grandchildren; two sisters, Nancy Clary of Alton and Lou Ann Denny of Basehor, Kan.; and a host of other relatives and friends.
Services were Friday, Jan. 25, at Cabool First Baptist Church with Dr. Bob Marti officiating. Burial with full military honors was in Cabool Cemetery under the direction of Elliott-Gentry-Carder Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Cabool Cemetery or to the TCMH Healthcare Foundation’s Care For Your Future Building Fund c/o the funeral home. Online condolences may be made at www.egcfuneralhome.com.
