LARNED — Born in Sayre, Okla. March 8, 1935, son of Simon and Lovina May (Martin) Ford. They moved to Elk City, Okla. when he was 6 months old and he lived there through high school.
He attended and was baptized at the First Christian Church in Elk City.
Summers Jerry played baseball and worked in grocery stores. His dad, Simon Ford, organized the first little league baseball in Elk City. Simon was a wholesale grocery salesman so it was never a problem for Jerry to find summer jobs. Summers were always busy working, playing baseball or going to baseball games.
His mother, Lovina Ford, was a stay at home mother who took wonderful, loving care of him and his father. Jerry did not have any brothers or sisters.
Jerry’s mother had eight siblings and his dad had four siblings. This made for lots of aunts, uncles, cousins and many big and wonderful family dinners. Dad was the song leader at church. Jerry discovered at a young age that God had blessed him with a big, strong, “singer” voice. Music became a huge part of his life, both vocal and instrumental.
From grades 5 - 12 his music teacher was Dr. Colbert Hackler. He was an amazingly talented teacher who inspired Jerry to spend his life in music.
During Jerry’s junior and senior year in high school he directed the choir at church. In the fall of Jerry’s senior year, Simon had a bad stroke and was unable to ever work again. This made the chance of college seem impossible, but the wonderful people of the First Christian Church in Elk City came together with the money for college.
Simon made wooden toys after his stroke using only one hand. This inspired Jerry to want to make toys someday and he has done a very fine job of this. Jerry and his friends Bob Bixby and Herman Mausolf made toys for the Colorado Christian Home in Denver, Colo. For over two decades Jerry made several hundred toys, given or sold locally. Lots of K-State toys were made!
In the fall of 1953 he started college at Phillips University in Enid, Okla. He was a music major, played tuba in the University band and sang in the choir. Jerry also played tuba in the 45th Infantry Division Band of the Oklahoma National Guard, which was stationed in Enid. He completed his military obligation by playing in the 89th Infantry Division Band stationed in Wichita, Kan. Jerry was blessed to be chosen as the bass soloist for the Enid-Phillips Symphony and Choir’s performance of the Christmas portion of Handel’s Messiah. He had the opportunity to do these solos three times both during and after college.
Morris Poster, voice professor, wanted Jerry to become an opera singer but he had already decided that he wanted to teach. During college he worked for five years, part-time, for Virgil and Grace Morris’s grocery store in Enid.
In the spring of 1958, after five years in college, Jerry graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. In the coming years he did lots of summer school work at Friends University, Emporia State, Ft. Hays State, Kearney, Neb., and the University of Northern Colorado, but mostly at Wichita State University, where he almost finished his master’s degree.
In the fall of 1958 he began teaching Choir at Valley Center Jr. and Sr. High School. He was at Valley Center for five years. Jerry then went to Campus High School for one year and then to Derby Jr. High for four years. These were good teaching positions with 75-80 students in each of the 7th, 8th and 9th grade choirs at Derby.
During the summer, Jerry was a butcher at I.G.A stores for the Fleming Co. in Wichita. Next he went to Garden City High School for four years. There he also had great participation in the program which grew from one to three choirs meeting each day as a regular class.
By the time he taught at Derby and Garden City he discovered a real love of designing and building special staging for spring concerts. After Garden City, Jerry spent one year in California as the musical director and performer with a professional music group, The Beginnings.
After California, he spent two years teaching at Wellington High School. In the fall of 1976, Jerry started teaching in Larned, Kan. He went to Pawnee Rock every day for one class, Larned Middle School for 7th and 8th grade choir every day and Larned High for two choirs and one ensemble, which met daily. Jerry directed the choir at the First Christian Church of Larned for 28 years before becoming the choir director at the Great Bend Christian Church for eight years, giving a lifetime total of 53 years as a church choir director.
Jerry was President of Larned Music Club for seven years and a member of the State KMEA board for eight years.
On Dec. 4, 1976, Jerry married Julie Heilman from Wichita, Kan. She was involved in every concert that the choirs presented. The fall, Christmas, and spring concerts especially showed her talents in set design, construction and special lighting. The first nine years all concerts were given in the high school gym. So she and the students completely decorated the east side of the gym. You felt like you were at a Broadway show. In 1985 the Community Center was built and the next nine years of concerts were given there. Jerry wants to thank not just Julie but also Bob and Alicia Bixby, Eddie Nauert, David Welch, Dick King and many other parents and students (who he couldn’t remember) for all their hours of help. In the spring of 1994, Jerry retired from full time teaching. He then taught four more years part time at Sacred Heart and Pawnee Rock. He also continued giving private voice lessons for six more years.
After retiring, he took a small part time job for 23 years with the City of Larned, taking care of the sound and lighting at the Community Center.
Jerry would like to thank all of his students in Larned for 18 years of wonderful memories, concerts, contests and choir trips and for just every day that he got to spend with each of you.
Jerry would like to send a special thank you to his amazing accompanists over the years: Carole Leaver, Dorothy Miller, Pat Springer, Lorna Singer, Ardith Davidson and Alice Keith.
Jerry is survived by his wife Julie Ford who lives in Larned; his four children; seven grandchildre; and 16 great grandchildren. He is very proud of them all. Daughter Tamara and husband Thomas Blake, live near Woodbine, Kan. Grandson Nathan and wife Stephanie Martinitz, children Shaylin, Cheyenne, Christopher and Matthew, live near Woodbine. Grandson Andrew Martinitz and his son Asher, live in Woodbine. Granddaughter Ashley and husband Mac Loucks, live near Abilene with children Jace, Dodge and Taylor. Son Aaron Ford and his late husband Stuart Silverman, live in New York City. Daughter Amy and husband Shane Jones live in Topeka, Kan. Grandson Garret Jones and wife Abbie live in Topeka, Kan. Grandson Addison Jones, wife Katie, son Oliver and twin daughters Willow and Wren, live in Springfield, Mo. Granddaughter Keeran and husband Eric Ellison with son Jheru and daughter Jhené, live in North Richland Hills, Texas. Granddaughter Lia and husband Mike Sheddan, sons Rowan and Sonny and daughter Morgan, live in Topeka, Kan. Daughter Stacy and husband Chris Henry live in Wichita, Kan.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Simon and Lovina May Ford.
Funeral service will be 2 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 at First Christian Church, Great Bend with Pastor Joshua Leu presiding. Please join Jerrys family for a reception at the church from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday prior to the funeral service. Visitation will be 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, Nov. 10, 2025 at Beckwith Mortuary, with family present from 5-8 p.m. Graveside service will be 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, 2025 at Greenwood Cemetery, Weatherford, Okla. Memorials may be given to Welcome Inn Senior Center or the Pawnee County Humane Society both in care of Beckwith Mortuary, PO Box 477, Larned, Kansas 67550. Personal condolences may be left atwww.beckwithmortuary.com.
Funeral arrangements provided by
Beckwith Mortuary
P.O. Box 477
Larned, Kansas
Great Bend (Kan.) Tribune, Nov. 11, 2025
