Juris Viesturs Jurevics' Obituary
Juris Viesturs Jurevics, also known as J.J. to co-corkers or George to various friends and neighbors, was born On October 31, 1937 to Gustavs and Elza Jurevics in Daugavpils, Latvia. He died on January 13, 2021 in Ft. Worth, TX. He started his educational journey in the displaced person camps in Kassel and Karlsruhe, Germany. After the war, Juris immigrated to the United States with the Jurevics family, initially to Goldthwaite, TX where he was enrolled in the local school. Ultimately the family moved to Dallas where he graduated from N. R. Crozier Tech in Dallas. He received a Kiwanis Club Scholarship to SMU where he earned a B.S. in physics. Further studies at TCU led to an M.S. in mathematics. Juris’s working life started with short stints at various local aerospace companies, followed by 38 years with the Federal Aviation Administration in the Fort Worth regional district.
He is predeceased by his parents Gustavs and Elza and an infant brother Viesturs. He leaves behind his brother Vitauts, niece Rita Morrison and nephew Pauls Jurevics. Also, Rita’s husband Bryan, their sons Spencer Gustav Morrison and Travis James Morrison, with their wives Jayci and Maria respectively, along with his cousins Aris and Leo Ratermanis of California. Also mourning is his long time friend Veronica Fields. A private memorial will follow when the CoVid crisis, which took his life, improves.
Work was his primary focus, while tennis and running for his exercise, along with competitive chess filling in the rest of his time. He won the United States Chess Federation 1970 Golden Knights competition in 1978, a postal competition that apparently took 8 years to complete. Many of his game moves were found among his things, along with letters and postcards from friends and relatives that he kept his entire adult life.
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