Wirt Yerger Jr

Yerger, a Jackson native and a graduate of the University of Mississippi, served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Air Command. He later joined Ross & Yerger, Inc., Mississippi’s first insurance agency, which had been founded in 1860. according to an obituary provided by the funeral home. He served as state chair of the Republican Party from 1956 to 1966 and was also chairman of the Southern Association of Republican State Chairmen. In 2009, he was named chairman emeritus of the state GOP for his work in building a two-party political system in Mississippi. Yerger is survived by his wife, Mary; two sons and a daughter and 10 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.