Joe Ross Berry

Funeral services for Joe Ross Berry, 77, of Lufkin will be held Sunday, September 8, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. in the Carroway Funeral Home Chapel with Reverend Cindy Doran officiating. Interment will follow in the Berry Cemetery.

Mr. Berry was born October 7, 1941 in Lufkin, Texas to the late Vera (Ross) and Oscar James Berry, and died Thursday, September 5, 2019 in a local hospice facility.

He graduated from Hudson High School and attended Lon Morris College and Sam Houston State University. He began serving Angelina County as a jailer and dispatcher for Sheriff Leon Jones. He served with the Lufkin Police Department and continued to be a strong supporter of law enforcement throughout his life. He worked for Gipson Funeral Home and owned Berry’s Bulldozer Service from 1970 to 1981, planting thousands of acres of pine trees for Southland Paper Mill.ud

In 1980 he ran a multi opponent race for County Commissioner Precinct 1 and won. He served in this position from 1981 to 1987. Mr. Berry then worked as a field representative for Texas Association of Counties in Austin until 1990 when he was elected as County Judge. He served in this position until his retirement in 2006.

During this time, he also served in various roles and board positions in the North & East Texas County Judges and Commissioners Association, Deep East Texas Council of Government and Texas Association of Counties, Angelina Beautiful/Clean and many other state and local boards.

Mr. Berry continued to serve on the boards of the Central Water Control and Improvement District and the Kurth Foundation.

Mr. Berry was a member of Keltys United Methodist Church.

He was a member of the Lufkin Area RC Modelers Club and the Roundtable where he made many great friends. He thoroughly enjoyed being a part of these two groups and spending time at the airport. He loved his bees, a well-kept yard, our county Airport, the Great State of Texas and thought Angelina County was the best place in the World.

Survivors include his daughter, Jennifer Collins of Lufkin; son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Stephanie Berry of Galveston; grandchildren, Carianne Smith and husband Zach, Emily Collins, Madison Berry, and Bailynn Moore; great-grandchildren, Caleb, Jacob, and Isabella Smith; and mother of his children, Lynn Berry of Lufkin.

He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Joe Berry, Jr.; and son-in-law, Ivy Collins III.

Pallbearers will be Tony Bishop, Don Morris, David Earl Kirkland, Wayne Rice, Gerry Biggs, and Tom Rainey.

Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Lufkin Roundtable.

Memorial contributions may be made to the Hayne E. Daniel Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Hudson ISD, 6735 Ted Trout Drive, Lufkin, Texas 75904, or the Chuck Arnold Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Lufkin High School Alumni Association, P.O. Box 150837, Lufkin, Texas 75915.

Memories and condolences may be added, and live webcasting of the services may be viewed, at www.carrowayfuneralhome.com.

Carroway Funeral Home, Lufkin, directors.