Official Obituary of
Jerre A. Houck
December 29, 1938 ~ November 15, 2024
85 Years Old
Jerre Houck Obituary
Jerre Houck, 85, of Dover, passed away on November 15, 2024, at home surrounded by his loving family.
Jerre was born in Quarryville, Lancaster County, on December 29, 1938, to the late Melvin Andrew and Marion Elizabeth (Skiles) Houck. Jerre lost his father at an early age and his fondest childhood memories were of his time spent with his grandparents. Jerre graduated from Lampeter Strasburg High School, class of 1956. Jerre married his high school sweetheart, Geraldine (Hart), with whom he shared 67 years of marriage.
Jerre retired from Pennsylvania Power & Light in 1994. He worked at Brunner Island in York Haven and retired as a supervisor. Jerre was respected as a leader and well liked for his calm and patient demeanor. After his retirement, Jerre was free to pursue his lifelong love of beagling. He was a member of three beagle clubs: Harrisburg, Swatara, and Maryland. He held offices in two of the clubs. In addition to training and running his own dogs, Jerre judged many federations and licensed trials on the east coast. He was incredibly proud of the many field champions he’d trained over the years. Jerre’s best friend Ben Smith was also an avid beagler and Jerre & Geraldine enjoyed visiting Ben and his wife Shirley in North Carolina. Jerre was a devoted Penn State and San Francisco 49ers fan, having a relative who played for the 49er’s.
Jerre lived a life without any regrets – he was proud to have retired early, and he spent his time as he wished – with his family and with his dogs. He especially loved spending time with his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and always held out hope that one of them would pick up his love of beagling.
In addition to his parents, Jerre was also predeceased by one brother, Marshall Myer (Evelyn). He is survived by his loving wife, Geraldine, his siblings Kenneth Houck (Annette, dec’d), Blaine Myer (Darla), Donald Myer, and Anne Warren (Greg); 5 children: Sherree Smith, Kimberly Justus (Douglas), Deborah Bishop (Robert), Reed Houck (Susan), and Cinthia Corson (David); 13 grandchildren: Nicole Mortelliti, Stephanie Galloway (David), Erin Webster (Daniel), Matthew Smith (Brittany), Jared Justus, Chelsea Newcomer (Zachary), Wade Bishop (Jessica), Zachary Houck (Kaylee), Seth Houck (Allison), David Roye (Ashley), Dalton Roye (Ashley), Jacob Corson, and Eric Miller (Sara); 17 great-grandchildren: Paige, Riley, Lucas, Emma, Maella, Wyatt, Fiona, Brantley, Jase, Noah, Magdalena, Cici, Levi, Savannah, Lillian, Scarlett, and Weston.
William E. Little Funeral Homes, Inc., 60 South Main Street, Manchester, is in charge of private funeral arrangements.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial contributions be sent in Jerre’s memory to Pitt Hopkins Research Foundation at pitthopkins.org/donate
We’ll remember him as “ten feet tall and bulletproof…God couldn’t make a man any tougher” (Luke Combs).
