Jerry Vasten Zumwalt loved Jesus and sought to please Him.  He studied scriptures looking for the nature of God.  His goal was to be a man righteous in God's eyes. Jerry was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on February 5, 1955, where his father was attending Southern Seminary.  His father served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force and raised his children all around the world and in many different states.

Jerry, a talented student, singer, and actor, excelled each time he changed schools.  He graduated from Central Washington State University with a degree in theater.  In addition to his B.A., he earned an M.A. in Communications from Regent University in Virginia and did doctoral studies at the University of North Texas in Denton, Tx.  He met his wife, Theresa, in graduate school. Jerry loved to laugh and enjoyed all types of humor.  His personal humor was dry, probably influenced by his years of living in England.

He taught Radio, Television, Film at Oral Roberts University, Navarro College and at Tarrant County College where he served as a tenured professor, and later in his career as the Vice President of Community and Industry.  He was active at the National Association of Broadcasters, in the Broadcaster Education Association, and in The Texas Association of Broadcast Educators.  He also was chosen as a Television Academy Academic Emmy Fellow and spent time in Los Angeles, noting from the professionals the skills they wanted their employees to have.

For four years, Jerry cohosted a television show called Talking Pictures where he interviewed many movie stars like Mike Meyers, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Kevin Sorbo, and Selma Hayek.  He also wrote film reviews for Preview, Family Guide to Movies and for the Corsicana Daily Sun. Jerry did voice over work in anime-switching the Japanese to English.  His list of credits can be found online, but his most notable was Samurai 7. While Jerry was teaching at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, the old 1960's television studio caught fire, and the facilities and equipment were totaled.  Painstakingly, he rebuilt the facilities and equipment making it the best studio in the metroplex.

Jerry was always active in church and Sunday School.  In Ponder, Tx. He remodeled and abandoned daycare into a Methodist Church.  He frequently served in leadership positions and on many boards. Upon retirement, Jerry and Theresa wrote a novel that Texas Christian University Press published-Moonlight Massacres by McKinley Zumwalt.  They have three more completed novels and are looking for publishers.

Jerry was a doting dad to Noah, frequenting Marvel Movies and daily dance routines.  He and Theresa had been married almost forty-four years. Together, for fourteen years, they cared for their aging parents.

Jerry died on January 8, 2025.  He is also survived by a sister in Oregon, Jennie Garner and her family, and a brother in Florida, John Zumwalt and his family.  Jerry adored his young great-nieces and nephews and loved teaching them to drive the golf cart even though their parents' raised eyebrows and wrung their hands.

Services will be held at Cowboy Fellowship Church 561 FM 3350, Jourdanton, TX 78026 on Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 10:00 a.m. under the direction of Hurley Funeral Home Pleasanton, TX.