Jerry Ronald Tilley 

April 18, 1936 - March 19, 2017

Jerry Ronald Tilley was born April 18, 1936, to Loren Tilley and Leona Hoffman Tilley in Kane. His birth was an unusual event due to the fact that he was premature, delivered by his own mother and placed in the oven to keep warm. Jerry Tilley died on March 19, 2017, at Billings Clinic due to complications from a blood clot.[caption id="attachment_12260" align="alignright" width="300"] Jerry Ronald Tilley[/caption]Jerry was the third oldest of 11 children. He attended grade school in Kane and high school in Lovell, graduating in 1954. His working career began young, as he and his brothers and sisters helped their parents on the family farm. Before he was out of high school, he flagged on a road construction job on the Big Horn Mountains and this was the start of a lifelong career.He was drafted into the Army in the late 1950s and served both active duty and in the reserves. When he returned to civilian life he worked road construction in the summer and at the sugar factory in the winter.He married Maxine Miller in 1965. They had two children: Ronald Wayne and Shauna Doraine. Jerry and Maxine were divorced in 1967 and Jerry spent the following seven years juggling single parenthood and working various jobs.In 1974, he married Corine Fredrick Caraveau and doubled his responsibilities by adopting Corine’s children, Steven Allen and Katherine Ann, as his own. He was dedicated to his family and always saw to their every need, no matter how many hours he had to work to make life good and safe for his family.Jerry worked for nearly every road construction company in the state of Wyoming and had a hand in crushing the gravel and laying the hot mix on almost every highway in the state, some of the roads twice and maybe even three times in his long career. At one time his crew earned an award for “The Smoothest Roads in the State” and was known to comment on the poorly constructed roads in other states he visited.He traveled the state in a truck loaded with tools, pulling a camper. He never met a stranger and was always willing to stop and fix their broken down vehicle along his way. From the Veteran’s Memorial Highway near Cody to Interstate 80, from Newcastle to Rock Springs and many roads in between, Jerry helped build the roads that crisscross the state of Wyoming. He finally retired from his life’s work in the spring of 2016 after he turned 80 years old.Jerry is survived by his wife Corine Tilley of Deaver; his sons Ron Tilley and Steven Tilley of Deaver and his daughter Shauna Tilley Kent and husband Jim Kent of St. Louis.; two grandchildren, Chase Kent of Richmond, Va., and Leta Kent of Herndon, Va.; brothers and sisters-in-law Edward (Helen) Tilley, Cape Girardeau, Mo., Don Tilley, Fayetteville, N.C., Melvin (Sherry Kay) Tilley of Powell, Earl (Karen) Tilley of Powell, Dennis Tilley of Deaver and Marvin (Linda) Tilley of  Deaver; and sister and brother-in-law Sherry Tilley (Curt) Nelson and many nieces and nephews.Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Loren and Leona Tilley, sisters Joyce Buster, Gloria Dudley and Charlene Schultz and his daughter Katherine Anne Tilley.In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jerry’s name to Big Horn Basin Regional Dialysis Center, 424 Yellowstone Ave, Suite 150, Cody, WY, 82414.A memorial service is being held on Saturday, March 25, at the Deaver Community Center at 2 p.m. Burial will take place at a later date.