JERRY DON CANTRELL, 78, of Sherman, TX
passed away June 28, 2016.
Jerry was born March 19, 1938 in Pampa, TX to the
late O.L. & Sara Browder Cantrell. He moved to
Ranger, TX in 1943 and graduated from Ranger High
School in 1957 and was a member of the 1953 Bulldog
State Football Champs. He graduated from Sul Ross
University in Alpine in 1962. He later earned his
Masters Degree from East Texas State University. In
June of 1963, he married Jane Phillips in Vernon, TX.
Jerry began his football coaching career in McCamey,
TX where he met his future wife Jane. He would go on
to coach high school football in Lewisville, Longview,
and Bowie before settling in Sherman where he served
as the defensive coordinator at Sherman High School
with Tommy Hudspeth from 1971-1978. One of the high-
lights of his coaching career was being invited to
coach the Texas High School All-Star game in 1977 in
the Cotton Bowl. Jerry was a longtime member of the
Texas High School Coaches Association. In 1979, Coach
Cantrell began coaching as an assistant at Austin
College & won the NAIA Division II National Champion-
ship before retiring from coaching in 1982.
In retirement, Jerry worked as an insurance agent for
Horace Mann Ins, owned Texoma Driving School from 1994
to the present, and co-owned Carriage House Antiques
with his wife Jane. He and Jane enjoyed spending time
in their Colorado home & watching their grandchildren
at their sporting events. He attended First Baptist
Church where he served as a deacon and was a regular
at the Sunset Dairy Queen 10:00 Coffee Club.
Jerry will be remembered as a loving husband, father,
& grandfather. He is survived by his wife of 53 years,
Jane of Sherman; two sons, Jeff Cantrell & wife Carolyn
of Frisco & Jerel Cantrell of Dallas; five grandchildren,
Cole, Ryan, Jacob, Jackson, and Elizabeth; sister, Diane
Cantrell Henderson (RHS-1961) & husband John of Lewisville;
sister-in-law, Martha Cantrell of Sugarland; and several
nieces & nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents
and brother, Jimmy Cantrell (RHS-1953).