Jarold “Jerry” Arthur Pickering, 83, Columbus, died the morning of Sunday, November 5, 2023.
He was born December 30, 1939, in Columbus. He graduated from Cherokee County Community High School in 1957. He was active in Future Farmers of America and 4-H. Among his favorite memories of that time were playing trombone in the high school band at President Eisenhower’s Inaugural Parade and later with the NEO band at the Rose Bowl.
Jerry and Lois Ann Howard were united in marriage Easter Sunday, April 2, 1961, at Center Christian Church, in rural Columbus.
Jerry’s love of airplanes and flying began at a young age, with model airplanes from cereal boxes and from watching swarms of planes fly over on their way to WWII.
He completed training at the National School of Aeronautics in Denver, Colo. and went on to work in the airline industry for the next 40 years. The majority of his career was with Frontier Airlines before they shut down in 1986. He continued working in the industry with five other airlines, including Eastern and Braniff, before retiring from USAirways in 1999. During his career he met and interacted with many celebrities and professional athletes. While working he was able to obtain his pilot’s license and later owned his prize possession, a Piper Clipper that he dubbed “Little Rudy”. In recent years, he had been working to restore Little Rudy so it could soar once again.
Jerry was the core of strength for his family and always put them first. He had a heart for others who were undergoing serious medical issues and spent many hours sitting with families at the hospital. Following major heart surgery in 1995, he volunteered with the Mended Hearts program in West Virginia where he was working. He was instrumental in starting the College Heights Men’s Prayer Breakfast that met at Granny Shaffer’s. He also assisted his wife, Lois, in her duties as nursery assistant at CHCC following the Sunday morning services.
Jerry was preceded in death by his grandparents, Clarence and Nellie Atkinson; mother and stepfather, Janice and Norman Harrington; father and stepmother, Arthur and Mildred Pickering; and one son-in-law, Richard “Trey” Clifton Darcey III.
In addition to his wife, Lois, of the home he is also survived by daughters, Brenda Honeycutt and husband Kirby, Janet Peterson and husband Philip, Sharon Darcey- Martin and husband Keith, and son, David Pickering and wife Mara; nine grandchildren, Eric Honeycutt, Ethan Honeycutt, Andrew Darcey, Elaine Darcey, Luke Peterson, Lydia Peterson, Abigail Pickering, Caleb Pickering, and Joshua Pickering; one great-grandson, Fox Honeycutt; half-sister Norma Newell, half-brother Bill Harrington, and half-sisters, Linda Baker, Pam Anderson, and Jayne Luker.
Funeral services will be Tuesday, November 14, at 10 a.m., at the Derfelt Funeral Home in Columbus. The family will receive friends from 5 p.m. – 7 p.m. Monday November 13, at the funeral home. Burial will follow in the Greenlawn Cemetery, Columbus.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Derfelt Funeral Home, Columbus