Jerry Oxendine
Posted: November 22, 2020
Jerry Jerome Oxendine, a proud member of the Lumbee Indian Tribe, known as Chief to his friends in Alabama and Mississippi, was born April 2, 1958, to the late Clyde Oxendine and Queen Esther Hunt Oxendine in Lumberton, Robeson County, North Carolina. He spent his childhood in Robeson County, NC and called Fairmont, NC home. On August 12, 1975, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corp and received his basic training at Parris Island, South Carolina. While in the Marines he received the rank of E-4 Corporal. He participated in the European Tour of 1976, as well as the West Pacific Tour. His tours of duty included Norway, Denmark, England, Japan and the Philippines. While serving, he received two good conduct awards. No matter where he encountered other Marines, they would always say “Semper Fi”. Once a Marine, Always a Marine. After being honorably discharged from the Marine Corp, he worked for McDonald Douglas in California building aircraft. After working in California, he returned to his beloved family and friends in Robeson County, NC. It was there that he married Bonita Jones and had two children, Brittany and Jerry Jr. On Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 1992, he moved to Mississippi to help his sister, Lucille, at Justin’s Upholstering in Columbus, Mississippi, after the passing of her husband. He would remain in the Columbus, MS and Ethelsville, AL area until being placed on Hospice with a bad heart and returning to NC September 5, 2018, almost twenty-six years to the day that he moved from NC to MS. Jerry’s hobbies included restoring old muscle cars and tractors, gardening and landscaping. He was always willing to do what he could to help others. He loved people and won many friends by his jovial and outgoing personality. He also loved NASCAR and Alabama Football One of the proudest moments of Jerry’s life was when he went on a mission trip to Mexico. And he loved to go to his favorite place, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. After a long battle with heart disease and COPD, he died peacefully in his sleep at his home, the evening of Monday, November 9, 2020; and because he received the Lord as his Savior, he made the journey to his Heavenly home where he joined family and friends who preceded him and where he awaits other loved ones to join him. In addition to his parents, Jerry was preceded in death by two sisters, Marilyn Oxendine Scott and Glenda Ruth Oxendine Foeller; and three brothers, Anthony Wayne Oxendine, Kenneth Oxendine and Lloyd Ray Oxendine. Jerry leaves to cherish his memories one son, Jerry J. Oxendine, Jr.; one daughter, Brittany Oxendine; two grandchildren, Brianna Townsend and Jayden Townsend; five sisters, Helen H. Cook, Geraldine Oxendine, Linda O. Maynor (Timmy), Lucille O. Burgess and Jeanette O. Ramirez (Victor) all of North Carolina; two brothers, Ricky Oxendine of New York and Melvin Gerald Jacobs of Myrtle Beach, SC; Bonita Jones, the mother of his children, of North Carolina; a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends and his beloved cat, Puddy. Some friends in AL & MS who were very close to Jerry include Roger Hutcherson, Billy Ponds, Linwood and Faye Hughes, Peggy Burton, Keith and Patsy Swedenburg, Eugene Barton, Brother Trey Reese, Gene and Mavis Brown, all of Ethelsville, AL; George Baldwin, James Frye, Daniel Ponds, Gary Miller, Peggy Wills and Special Friend, Patsy Robertson, of Columbus, MS. Visitation, family only, was Friday, November 13, 2020, from 12 noon until 2:00 PM, at Floyd Funeral Services in Fairmont, North Carolina, with words of comfort brought by Brother Trey Reese following the visitation. Interment was at Pleasant View Baptist Church Cemetery in Fairmont.
