Jerry Dean Haston

Jerry Dean Haston, 85, a McMinnville resident and White County native, was born February 2, 1932, and went home to our Lord surrounded by his wife, son and other family members on January 25, 2018, at NHC Healthcare of McMinnville, after an extended illness. A member of the Church of Christ at Westwood for more than 50 years, he was a 32nd Degree Mason, an American Legion member, and a McMinnville Citizen Police Academy graduate, with a great passion for fishing, reading and the military. He retired from Carrier Corporation in 1989. In 1949, at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Tennessee Army National Guard and served for more than 40 years before retiring as a Master Sergeant. He was extremely proud to be the son of a Guardsman, the father of Tennessee’s 75th Adjutant General, and to have served as a Cavalryman in the 30th Armored Division and the 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment. He concluded his career at the Tennessee Military Academy (117 RTI). Survived by his wife of 65 years, Bettye Claire Woodlee Haston, he was preceded in death by parents, Herbert L. and Jessie White Haston of Sparta, and was a descendent of John White, the founder of White County. He also is survived by a son, Maj. Gen. Max (Anne) Haston and grandson, Travis, of Knoxville; two sisters, Joanna Haston Jones of Tullahoma and Nancy Haston (Archie) Meyers of Chattanooga; a brother, Richard T. (Sharon) Haston of Germantown; several nieces, nephews, grandnieces, and grandnephews, as well as other extended family and special friends at NHC. Receiving of friends will be at High Funeral Home, 101 College Street, on Sunday, January 28, 1-3 p.m., immediately followed by a chapel service and burial with military funeral honors at Armstrong Church Cemetery in Irving College. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made in his honor to Armstrong Church Cemetery, The Tennessee National Guard Excellence in Leadership Foundation or the Journey Home Foundation.