G. C. Pettey III

G.C. Pettey III, beloved son, husband, father, brother, grandfather and friend, passed away December 15, 2022, at his home in Tyler, Texas. He was born in Durant, Oklahoma, on June 24, 1936, to Mildred Ellis Pettey and G.C. Pettey, Jr, the oldest of three children. He was greatly influenced by his mother. She was selfless and incorporated her high moral values into the family’s daily life. G.C. started working at age 12 to help her handle the family finances. He was 9 years older than his younger brother, Mike, and took great care of him. Later in life, it was G.C.’s greatest privilege to buy land and build his parents a country home for their retirement to get them out of the city, which they thoroughly enjoyed for many years. G.C. Graduated from Southern Methodist University with a mathematics degree, and set out on his entrepreneurial path, starting several successful businesses in insurance and administration or retirement plans. He was one of the founders of the San Jacinto Corporation in Houston and served as president. His experience there as president directed the path of his business career and epitomized his penchant for hard work, a value he shared with his employees as he encouraged them to succeed. His son Larry and sister Tio ran the satellite office in Dallas for many years. With their development in mind, he made certain that they learned as much from him as they could. He served as president of the Retirement Administration and Designers of America (RADA) and through that organization and other related ones, he made life-long friends. G.C. was confident, gregarious, and bold, but he didn’t take himself too seriously. He had a robust sense of humor which he shared with everyone through his entertaining stories. His humorous one-liners were legendary. Very Community minded, G.C. served as president or on the board of several homeowners associations through the years. He was very proud of his Choctaw Tribe heritage. He had two relatives who were Choctaw Chiefs, and an aunt who still lives in the Choctaw Community. After he retired, he enjoyed playing golf as often as he could, and he especially enjoyed spending time with his golf buddies until his health did not allow. Family and friends were the focus of his retirement. He was able to attend graduations and other events for his grandchildren. He was especially proud of attending Brandon’s graduation from Tx. A&M, Texarkana and Rylee’s from the University of Arkansas, Kotton’s recent high school graduation. One of his fondest memories was a family trip to Disney World, where the grandchildren loved having him inside the park doing things with them. He and Billie had a very interesting trip to China, the RADA Meetings and other various trips. Spending time with Billie was always special to him. He adored her and greatly admired her business acumen and success. G.C. was preceded in death by his parents, his sister, Mary Jean Chambers (Tio), and his daughter-in-law, Kay Pettey. He is survived by his loving wife of 28 years, Billie; his son, Larry Pettey, of Mount Pleasant, Tx.; and two daughters, Angie Funderburgh and her husband Klay, Carol Dillingham and her husband Matt, all of Dripping Springs, TX.; his grandchildren, Brandon and Kristen Pettey, Rylee Dillingham, Kotton, Kannon, Kora, and Kenley Funderburgh; his brother, Michael Pettey and his wife Ann, of Houston, TX.; his aunt, Mary (sis) Lee Perkins of Bennington, OK.; his cousin, Joe Iglehart, of Paris, TX.; and many nieces and nephews. The service will be December 28, 2022 at 2:00 pm at the Stewart Family Funeral home in Tyler, Tx. Donations in lieu of flowers can be made to East Texas Food Bank (www.easttexasfoodbank.org), Salvation Army (www.salvationarmytexas.org), Federation for the Blind (www.nfbtx.org), or a charity of your choice.

G. C. Pettey III

June 24, 1936 - December 15, 2022