On June 24, 2023, Jerry Lamar Countryman passed away in Richmond, Texas.  He was born on November 5, 1932, in Attalla, Alabama, the son of William Levette Countryman and Fay Warsham Countryman.

Jerry graduated from Emma Samson High School in Gadsden, Alabama in 1949.  After high school, he attended Peabody Teachers College in Nashville Tennessee.  He then married his high school sweetheart, Elna Culver, in 1953 before he was drafted in 1954.  He earned the rank of Specialist 3rd Class as a trumpet player in the Third Army Band Headquarters Band in Fort McPherson, Atlanta, Georgia.  After being discharged from the Army in 1956, he graduated from Jacksonville Teachers College in Jacksonville, Alabama with a Bachelor of Music Education degree and in 1959 received his Master of Music Education from the University of Alabama.

After teaching in Ohatchee and Oneonta, Alabama for short periods, Jerry became the band director for the Decatur City Schools in Decatur, Alabama.  Under his direction, The Decatur High School Band received 21 years of Superior ratings at the Alabama Bandmasters Association State Band Competition Festival. The band performed at the 1965 Southern Division MENC Conference, the 1979 Southeastern United States Band Festival (Troy), and the 1982 Tri-State Band Festival (Florida State University).  He served as the President of the Alabama Bandmasters Association and in 1983 was inducted into the Phi Beta Mu Alabama Bandmasters Hall of Fame. In 1983, he retired after teaching for 22 years at Decatur High School and in 1984, Jerry and Elna moved to West Columbia, Texas where he was the band director at West Columbia High School for six years before retiring a second time in 1990.  They lived in West Columbia for 32 years before moving to Richmond, Texas in 2017 to be closer to their sons.

He is survived by his sons, Randy Countryman and Greg Countryman; grandson, Ty Countryman; niece, Joni Smith and her daughter, Emily Smith Riley and Jane Ann Countryman.

Services for Jerry Lamar Countryman will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, July 14, 2023 at the First Baptist Church, 502 S. 5th St, Richmond, Texas 77469, with viewing from 10:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.  The Military Funeral Honors burial will be at the Houston National Cemetery in Houston, Texas at 1:00 p.m.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Claire Brothers Funeral Home, 7901 Hillcroft Street, Houston, Texas 77081.