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- Gerald B. "Jerry” Bassett
Visitation for Gerald B. "Jerry" Bassett, 77, of Reeds Spring, will be held from 3-7 p.m. Friday (Dec. 2) at Greenlaw Funeral Home in Branson. Cremation will be under direction of Greenlawn and burial will be at a later date in Highland Cemetery, Hamilton.
He died Nov. 30, 1994 at his home.
Formerly of Westminster, Colo., Mr. Bassett had been a resident of Reeds Spring since 1985. He was a retired inside wireman for I.B.E.W. Local No. 68. He was a United States Army Veteran of WWII and was a member of the Kimberling City Elks Lodge NO. 2505. Mr. Bassett attended school in Cameron.
Surviving are his wife, Jean (Dale) Bassett, of the home; two sons, Michael D. of Westminister, Colo. and David F. of Arvada, Colo.; one daughter, Lori A. Little of Westminister, Colo.; one sister, Norma I. Canan of Salem, Ore. and four grandchildren.
Memorials may be made to Community Hospice of America Inc., 1756 Bee Creek Rd., Branson, Mo. 65616.
The following was provided by David F. Bassett in 2006.
Gerald worked for the railroad as a young man and was drafted into the Army in 1942. While overseas, Michael Dale Bassett was born August 17th, 1944. As a World War II veteran, he served in the Pacific Theatre mainly in New Caledonia as a 1st Lieutenant serving as a port transportation officer. After the war, Jerry came home and enrolled in refrigeration school in St. Louis and then engineering school in Milwaukee using his GI Bill. But because of having to feed his family, he wasn't able to continue and moved to Kansas City to be near relatives. He enrolled part time at an electrical college, his beginnings as an electrician. He worked his way across Kansas and Nebraska applying his skills. He ended up in eastern Colorado in the small town of Joes in 1950.
The Rural Electric Association had not yet cross the Colorado and Kansas boarder to electrify and wire America. Jerry somehow landed the contract and was the 1st Electrical Contractor in Eastern Colorado. He sold to each rancher and farmer his or her first experience with electricity. This included one light, one outlet, and the setting of a wooden pole outside with the wire on it waiting for REA to come behind and energize. His business prospered and he had another son David Francis Bassett August 28, 1952 along the way.
Disaster struck the eastern plains in the form of the Dust Bowl. Jerry recanted years later that he had thousands of dollars of receivables but the ranchers and farmers could not pay him. Many had offered him land but he had refused, later to his regret. He said "you couldn't eat land" and land was worth nothing at that time because of the Dust Bowl. Jerry tried to survive running the Sinclair gas and bulk station on Main Street in Burlington, Colo. but to no avail as the economy had dried up and blown away that business also.
Jerry and Jean packed up and moved to Denver in 1956 where Jerry eventually became a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and worked as an electrician, foreman, and general foreman for the next decades. Lori Anne Bassett was born August 7th, 1963. They moved to Westminster Colorado after they bought a house there. To Lori's dismay, she still resides there raising her family.
Dad and mom retired to 40 acres of property near Branson Missouri that had been reportably bought by great-grandmother Alice Bassett at a tax sale for $8.69 which included back taxes of $1.96 and penalty and interest of $6.73. The local residents there had named the land The Lost Forty because no one had done anything with the land until Jerry showed up. Jerry built a house, fenced the land, and raised cattle. They lived there until Jerry came down with cancer and finally succumbed to it. Jean sold the property, as it was too much for her to manage, and returned to Denver to be with her children.
In Memory of Gerald "Jerry" B. Bassett
Born, April 26, 1917 Wheeling, Missouri
Died, November 30, 1994 Reeds Spring, Missouri
Visitation
Greenlawn Funeral Home
Branson, Missouri
Friday, December 2, 1994
3:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Officiating
Jim Crooks
Highland Cemetery
Hamilton, Missouri
THE LOST FORTY, by Dave Bassett, 5 Jul 1996
My dad Gerald B. Bassett and mother Jean K. Bassett lived on a forty acre farm that dad had inherited. He built a house in 1983/84. Dad raised butcher beef and loved his retirement. The farm is located in Taney County Missouri, about half way between Branson and Springfield Missouri near a town called Reeds Spring. According to the tale handed down through the years, my great grandmother Alice Bassett was in the Ozarks on vacation in the late 1800's and bought "The Lost Forty" at the Taney County courthouse for $8.69. This included back taxes of $1.96 and penalty and interest of $6.73. The land was deeded over to my grandparents, Milo and Grace Bassett. Dad and his sister Norman Kanan inherited the land from them. Norma had no interest and eventually signed "The Lost Forty" over to dad. The name "The Lost Forty" came from the locals in the area. No one knew who owned the land so they called it that. The land sloped about a 1,000 feet into the holler. This parcel was the highest point in Taney County. The holler had a "still" spring in it so named because of the making of moonshine. Moonshine was made and pulled out on a wooden sled by mule as told by the locals. This spring flowed year round and never dried up as others did in the area. I can verify this as I walked the land several times when my family vacationed with mom and dad. Diane, my wife, and sons Jed and Chad would visit once a year. A great place to vacation because of the close proximity to Branson. Dad truly loved his land and it was great sadness after dad passed away that it was sold my by mother who could not keep up with the chores of country living by herself. My family would have liked to have kept the farm, but living a 1,000 miles away prevented the land from continuing on to the 4th generation of Bassetts.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1917 - 1994 (76 years)