Jerry Retzloff Collection

Jerry Retzloff was born in San Antonio, Texas, on January 4, 1940 to Walter (Red) and Celia Retzloff. He was raised on the Southeast side of town, proudly attending Central Catholic High School. Upon graduation, Jerry decided to join the U.S. Coast Guard and was stationed in San Francisco, California. He enjoyed the USCG and often spoke pridefully of being the only coasty to have never gotten seasick on his ship despite numerous significant storms on his watch. During one storm, he wagered everyone their once-a-week ration of steak that he would not get seasick – he won the bet and ate steaks daily for over a month.

Upon returning from the USCG, he came back to San Antonio and joined Lone Star Brewery in 1963. He loved his job at Lone Star Beer, working on the dock, the accounting office, and ultimately ending up in marketing and special promotions. While at Lone Star in his early years, he also earned his bachelor's degree in marketing from St. Mary's University. In the mid 1970s, he became the district manager for Lone Star in Austin, Texas. He worked passionately to grow the brand through the burgeoning Austin music scene. Jerry identified with the younger crowd and made connections quickly - enjoying music, meeting people, building relationships and promoting the "National Beer of Texas". He developed many bonds with musicians from the area including Kinky Friedman, Red Stegall, Charlie Daniels, and, among others, his lifelong friend, Willie Nelson.

Jerry originated the concept of calling beer bottles "long necks" and promoted the idea of "Long Live Long Necks". He was especially proud to have been featured in an article for Texas Monthly (2014) entitled "Bottle Rocket" - an amazing article on how Jerry built the Lone Star brand through music, unique promotions and his travels from Austin to Nashville to Hollywood. To cap his legendary career in the beer/music business, a phenomenal exhibit was created in his honor at Texas State University's Wittliff Collections.

After retiring with 34 years at Lone Star Beer, Jerry pursued his hobby of fishing and telling stories on frequent trips to the Rockport area. He also served in the hospital ministry at the downtown Baptist Hospital for 26 years. Having built a vast network of friends over the years, he genuinely enjoyed people, had a servant's heart, was kind to all and never encountered a stranger. His trademark phrase of "Not to Worry" stuck with him until the end. He passed away March 10, 2020.

[From obituary, March 2020]