********************************************************************** Gerald Howard Rathheim 29 May 2013 ********************************************************************** Gerald Howard Rathheim 78, passed away May 29, 2013 after a long battle with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Jerry was born on February 12, 1935 in St. Louis, MO to Bernard James Rathheim and Clementine Bertha Klein. Jerry was the middle of 3 children, with Tom the oldest and the only girl, Carolyn as the youngest. Our family moved to Dallas from St. Louis in 1950. We lived in East Dallas about a year when our parents found a home under construction that was left unfinished in far North Dallas country. At that time, Northwest Hwy was the Dallas city limit. Central Expwy was under construction only to Mockingbird. LBJ Expwy was not even in existence. There we finally moved to our family home in the country where Tom & Jerry had many opportunities to go exploring in the woods where they enjoyed hunting and fishing. Jerry attended and graduated from Richardson High School in the early 50's. Later he served in the Army-National Guard Reserves & was mainly in the New York area. After military service he workded in a variety of businesses. Later he was hired by GSI-parents co. of T.I., and was transferred to California several years later to the Houston area and after G.S.I. was sold to Halliburton, he remainded and eventually went to work for other companies. He mainly worked in shipping & receiving and also did a lot of traveling driving large trucks to many locations. He had a home in Missouri City with a large back yard. He really enjoyed it & being outdoors. He had numerous flower beds and gardens where he raised lots of produce, he also shared the harvest with neighbors & friends. He also had a large smoker grill that he did lots of cooking and grilling for many gatherings &andparties. He became an excellent cook both indoors and out. Since he was very close to the gulf coast he did lots of fishing & many times if he was down that way he even went to the docks when the boats arrived and got fresh shrimp. So he spent a lot of time outdoors. After he retired, he bought an old house that was vacant and fore- closed. With help he completely remodeled and repaired to use for rental property. Later he sold and moved on to other projects. Much later he moved to Crystal Beach, near Galveston and fixed another home. Shortly after Hurricane Ike arrived and everything was destroyed and lost. He then moved north to Paris, TX & not too long thereafter he became quite ill. He was going thru a divorce and I had to go and rescue him. I bought him back home to Dallas and got excellent professional medical help. It was discovered that he had lung cancer which was removed, but a short time later he developed MDS. This is a blood disease with many problems. So he had to be constantly monitored with blood draws to check his condition. Also, many blood transfusions were given over the past 3 years with lots of pain, fear and screaming. He had lots of fears and trembling with the needles each week and much suffering. Now he's at peace and in total rest with our Heavenly Father. Memorial Services will be 10:00 a.m. Saturday, June 8, 2013 at Calvary Hill North Mausoleum Chapel. Inturnment to follow at Calvary Hill Cemetery in Dallas, TX. In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the MDS Foundation, 4573 S. Broad St. Suite 150, Yardville, NJ 08620. 1 800-MDS-0839 Read Complete Obituary Close Send Flowers Send Comfort Food **********************************************************************