Gerald Eugene Gaines August 18, 1950 ~ July 12, 2022 (age 71)

Obituary

Graveside services for Gerald Gaines, 71, of Rogers, NM will be held at 10:00 AM, Tues., July 19, 2022 in the Mount Zion Cemetery with Ken Dawdy officiating.  Mickey Burkett, Barry Hays, Randy Lieb, Covy Wall and Eldon Merrick will serve as honorary pallbearers.

Gerald Gaines, age 71, of Dora, NM passed away July 12, 2022 at his home. Gerald was born in Portales on August 18, 1950 to the home of L.C. & Iris (Nelson) Gaines. He graduated in 1968 from Dora Schools where he was an active member of 4-H and FFA. He then attended Lubbock Christian College for agricultural studies. He drove a truck cross-country for several years with his lifelong friend Mickey Burkett. They were in 48 states–all but Hawaii and Rhode Island.

On August 3, 1985, Gerald married the love of his life, Letha Jo Dawdy in Carlsbad, NM. They would have celebrated 37 years together next month. They made their home in Dora until 1995 when they moved to Carlsbad. In 2005 he and the family moved “home” once again taking up residence at his childhood home in Dora. Gerald was a devoted father, rarely missing a ball game, a band concert or the yearly church youth group trip to Dallas for LTC. He especially loved getting to go with his children to the Boy & Girl Scouts family camp weekends.

He continued to be involved in the agricultural community throughout his life farming, owning a dairy, and raising beef cattle with his family. Gerald loved his mules and enjoyed hitching them to the buggy for an evening drive. He spent hours in the shop working on his antique tractors and other various projects.

Quite possibly the highlight of his life was becoming a “Papa ” and getting to spoil his grandkids. It didn’t matter what jobs needed done outside, if a grandkid needed snuggles he would sit with them for hours on end while they napped and he watched RFD. Most recently he was excited to hear about the grandkids’ 4-H projects and was proud of all the hard work they are putting into them.

Gerald is survived by his wife, Jo, of Dora, NM; daughter Jolinda (Mason) Mapp; son Roy (Katelyn) Gaines; 5 grandchildren: Jeremy, Macilynn, & James Mapp and Lizzie & Emily Gaines all of Dora, NM; brother Darryl (Linda) Gaines of Haslet, TX and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents.

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