Dr. Jerry G. Nye, 82, died on February 24, 2015 in Oklahoma City, Okla. He was born on November 4, 1932 in Maysville, Okla. to Arthur Wilson Nye and Etta Hunn Nye.

He graduated from Bradley High School in Bradley, Okla. in 1951. Following graduation, he entered the United States Army and served as a bulldozer operation in the Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War.

He graduated from East Central State College in Ada, Okla. in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts in education. He received a Master of Arts from Oklahoma State University in 1963 and a Doctor of Education from the University of Northern Colorado in 1967.

Dr. Nye was a career educator who touched the lives of many students in a career that spanned seven decades. He taught public school and coached athletics in the 1950s and 1960s at Cox City, Okla. and Burbank, Okla. His college teaching career began at Northern Oklahoma Junior College in 1963. While at Northern, he taught English, coached baseball, and founded the womens basketball program. In 1967, Dr. Nye joined the faculty at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He served as a tenured faculty member in the Language Arts Department until 1999 and chaired the department for 22 years. Following his retirement, he continued to teach as professor emeritus until December 2014.

Along with teaching, Dr. Nye was an author, and he was involved in many educational organizations. He wrote the centennial history of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. He also published a weekly series titled Matchbook Memories in the Lindsay News (Lindsay, Okla.). He was a past president and lifetime member of the Oklahoma Council of Teachers of English. He was serving on the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority Board of Directors at the time of his death. He was also a member of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University Museum Committee. His work on the Museum Committee included preparation for a Smithsonian sports exhibit on Hometown Teams that will go on display in September of 2015.

Dr. Nye married Juanita Walker Nye on April 19, 1957 in Ada, Okla. He is survived by his wife, Juanita; two sons, Vance Nye and spouse Lena Nye, of Edmond, Okla., and Dr. Chad Nye and spouse Erica Nye, of Keene, N.H.; three grandchildren, Christopher Nye, Laurie Beth Nye, and Walker Wilson Grant Nye; and one great-grandchild, Dreyden Neiman Nelson. He was preceded in death by his parents and his seven siblings.

A memorial service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, 2015, at the First Baptist Church of Weatherford, Okla. A graveside internment service will be held at 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, 2015, at the Bradley Cemetery in Bradley, Okla. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Dr. Jerry G. Nye Memorial Scholarship Fund at BancFirst in Weatherford, Okla.