OBITUARY Billy Randolph Gery Passed away on September 6, 2018 Billy Randolph Gery took his last breath on Earth and his first breath in Heaven on Thursday, September 6, 2018. He was born on September 11, 1927 in Danville, Virginia to Charles Harold Gery and Bertha Lee Hubbard Gery. He was the third child of four and is predeceased by his older sister and brothers, Thelma Marian Gery Adkins and Harold Lee Gery, and his younger brother, Donald Conrad Gery.
As one of the last members of the Greatest Generation, he joined the Virginia Protective Force on November 1, 1943 and enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on July 31, 1945. Coming from a very poor background, he would later say that the Marines saved his life! After working in the funeral home business and on the tobacco market, he found his life’s work as a tile setter.
On August 3, 1951, he married the love of his life, Ruth Ann Powell, and made Richmond their home where he lived until his death. There he began working for Oliva & Lazzuri Tile until 1963 when he and his wife started B.R. Gery Tile & Marble Company. He was the tile contractor and she “answered the business phone and did the book work”, as she would say.
Together, they loved and raised their children, Brenda Gery Warburton (Bob) of Myrtle Beach, SC and David Lawrence Gery (Amy) of Richmond, VA. Nothing in the world meant more to him than to provide for his family in such a way that he was never provided for. He loved his children so much; and his grandchildren, Karen Warburton Johnson (Jack), R. Travis Warburton (Linda), and Nicole Ann Gery; and his great-grandchildren, Bradley Steele Johnson, Phillip Austin Johnson, Teagan Reneé Warburton, and Sean Ryder Warburton.
The newest lights of his life were his great-great-granddaughters, Olivia Locklyn Johnson and Lillian Denise Johnson, who brought him so much joy as he held and played with them. His greatest love was his wife, Ruth Ann Powell Gery, to whom he was a loving, caring, and devoted husband for over 64 years until her death on January 4, 2016. Even as Alzheimer’s slowly robbed her of her memories, he took care of her at home as long as he could so that she always knew and loved him and would light up every time she saw him.
That light was mutual. He spent many happy week-ends over the years in Deltaville, VA aboard their boat, the Southern Comfort, as the Captain to Ruth’s First Mate. He lived his life in a way that taught his family the meaning of respect, strength, total devotion, tenacity, and a fabulous sense of humor through hard work and his love for us.
He was always there for each and every one of us as we called for Bill, Honey, Daddy, or Granddad; he would be right there and do whatever was necessary to get us through. His legacy to his family is our wonderfully wicked sense of humor and our ability to stand tall and persevere. Our lives are so much richer for him having been in them and our world will from now on be darker because of his absence.
In addition to the above family members, he also leaves to cherish his memory his cousin, Shelby, nieces and nephews, and many friends with whom he shared good times and much laughter. We wish to thank The Symphony Manor of Richmond for their care and attention towards Daddy over the past few years. We also wish to thank the angels – Heather, Gretel, Melissa, and Julia – of Capital Caring Hospice for providing wonderful care, respect, and comfort to Daddy.
Please especially send good thoughts for David. Not only has he lost his Daddy, but also the man he worked beside for 31 years, and his best friend. In lieu of flowers, please go to your nearest assisted living facility and visit an elderly person; it will make their day .
. . and yours.
Nelsen Funeral Home at 4650 South Laburnum Avenue in Richmond, VA is handling the arrangements. Arrangements will be announced at a later date. We are the Rememberers, the people left behind, to keep the one who’s gone from us alive in heart and mind.
The people left to cherish and preserve a legacy. Yes, we are the Rememberers and we will always be.
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