Vonna and I are so glad to have been able to attend Uncle Gerard’s funeral service today. The words of Dan, Barb, and Pastor Rottman were a wonderful tribute to him and really captured what he was all about. As much as he loved music, Uncle Gerard would have been so pleased with the songs sung at the service. We were sitting just behind the family and the love of singing that you all share was very apparent. You make up quite a choir. The harmony was beautiful! Our prayers will be with you in the days ahead for comfort as you adjust to your loss.

Somewhere around 2003 my wife and I met Jerry on the Kent Trails bike path that goes along the Grand River south of Butterworth Street and O’Brien Road down to what is now Millenium Park. After seeing him repeatedly on the trail we finally stopped and struck up a conversation and a friendship. At that time, in his late 70’s, Jerry was riding 23 miles a day and, as I remember, he was riding 4500 – 5000 mi per year. He was one of those wonderful folks who loves life and brightens your day just by talking to you. He also had that insight that comes from living long and living well, from dealing with the good and the bad life has to offer, and from having time to reflect on the years when he was too busy to ride 23 miles a day. After a couple years of meeting and talking on the bike path we discovered Jerry loved small sailboats and when he learned I was looking for a project to work on he looked me straight in the eye and told me I needed to build a sailboat. I did. Two years later we went sailing on Lake Michigan, Jerry and I, in a 12-foot dinghy and he was clearly in his element. Afterward we splurged and went to Russ’ to eat. Over time we learned of Jerry’s many years of volunteer work reading with kids at the Potter’s House school and we learned he had a special place in his heart for those in this world who were a little ragged around the edges and who struggled more than ‘normal’ folks. He said they too were made in the image of God and we would all do well to remember that. After we moved to a new home in 2009 our paths did not cross with Jerry’s again. We miss him!

"Uncle Gerard" is playing some instrument with strings...and smiling..... My thoughts and prayers are with all your families in your time of both grief and celebration...surely heavens gain..... Joel

Uncle Gerard will surely be missed! His sense of humor and enthusiasm for life were a gift from God to all he encountered! Please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you all during this difficult time. Love, Andrea

Cindy and family, Our prayers are that the legacy you dad leaves will inspire you in your faith and service and will comfort your hearts in time of repose. Sincerely, Anna