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                          Gerald Howard Rathheim           29 May 2013
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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

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