Obituary of Gerry Cleaver

Funeral services for Sulphur Springs Fire Department Chief Gerry L. Cleaver, 60, are scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, May 22, at League Street Church of Christ with the Rev. Jim Moore officiating. Sulphur Springs City Manager Marc Maxwell will deliver the eulogy. Fire service and military graveside ceremonies will follow at Sulphur Bluff Cemetery. Pallbearers include Assistant Fire Marshal Eric Hill, Assistant Fire Chief Tim Vaughn, Fire Captain Charles Vaughn, Fire Captain Aaron Kager, Interim Fire Captain David James, Fire Captain Duane Sprague, Driver Jay Stonaker and Driver Doug Clay. Honorary pallbearers are the Sulphur Springs Fire Department and retired Sulphur Springs firefighters. Visitation will be 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, May 21 at West Oaks Funeral Home. Cleaver died Monday, May 20, at his home in Sulphur Bluff. He was born May 25, 1952, in Dallas, the son of William Roe Cleaver and Cletus Brown Cleaver. They survive. He was a 1970 graduate of H. Grady Spruce High School in Dallas and a member of the Pentecostal faith. He married Dana Durham Cleaver on March 25, 1989, in Sulphur Springs. She also survives. He served in the United States Army and was stationed in Germany. With nearly 33 years of service for the City of Sulphur Springs, Cleaver joined the Sulphur Springs Fire Department in 1980. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in 1988 and served a brief time as interim Fire Chief prior to official appointment to that office in 1999. Other survivors include son, Michael Anthony Cleaver of Sulphur Springs; sister and brother-in-law, Laura and Bill Sorrells of Royse City; brother and sister-in-law Kenneth and Cyndi Cleaver of Talty; grandson, Aiden Blaine Cleaver of Sulphur Springs; mother and father-in-law, Mary Lou and Danny Durham of Sulphur Springs; brother and sister-in-law, John and Sandy Durham of Paris; seven aunts, two uncles, two nieces, three nephews and several cousins. Cleaver was preceded in death by his grandparents, two aunts and five uncles. Service arrangements are under the direction of West Oaks Funeral Home in Sulphur Springs. Memorials may be made in lieu of flowers to Hopkins County Veterans Memorial, P.O. Box 533, Sulphur Springs, TX 75483 or Hospice at Memorial, 115 Airport Road, Sulphur Springs, TX 75482.