Jerri Gayle Casey

On Thursday, July 22, 2021, Jerri Gayle Casey, devoted and loving mother of three children, passed away at the age of 63. Gayle was born on July 17, 1958, in Bristol, Tennessee to Wesley and Marie Griffin. She graduated from Tennessee High School in 1976. During high school, Gayle was a member of the swim team and played the flute and piccolo in the High School Band. She was no stranger to accidents or getting injured as nothing could stand in her way. Directly after graduating high school, she was accepted and attended college at the University of Tennessee. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in Deaf Education in 1980. She married Robert Beatty on 22 January 1983, in Ionia, Iowa and were later divorced. From this union they had two children. She then married Robert Casey and raised one child on her own. She was very passionate about education and was a well-respected teacher throughout her community, establishing lifelong bonds with hearing and impaired children. She was the teacher that loved her students as they were her own children. After teaching for over a decade, she decided to go back to school and became a registered nurse. For several years she worked demanding shifts in nursing homes, as a single parent, until the point she was injured on the job and could no longer work. She had everlasting love for her children and would always be there at the right time with the right words of wisdom. Throughout the years she became known as several family friends' second mother, that would come and go. She always protected her children and those she loved no matter what she had to sacrifice. She lived a life full of challenges and always meet these challenges with great fortitude. She would often quote, "I should write a book one day." Gayle was preceded in death by her father Wesley Griffin. She is survived by her mother Marie Griffin, her sister Becky Veraar, her three children, Jonathan Beatty, Daniel Beatty, Samuel Casey, and four grand children Isaac Morgan, Benjamin Morgan, Nathaniel Beatty, and Grace Beatty. Private family services will be held. Trinity Memorial Centers Funeral Home (423-723-8177) is honored to serve the Casey family.