Jerome Stanley Gehrke

Jerome "Jerry" Stanley Gehrke, 78, of Cedar Falls, passed away on Friday, October 22, 2021, at Unity Point Health/Allen Hospital of Waterloo.  He was born January 31, 1943, in DeRitter, Louisiana, son of Stanley and Helen (Lorenz) Gehrke.  Jerry attended Wapsie Valley High School, graduating with the Class of 1961. He attended college at UNI until he was recruited to play baseball in the Midwest League, which led him to play for the Mets Minor League Organization.  He then returned to UNI and finished his education with a B.A. in 1972.  Jerry married Linda Miller in 1969 and the couple later divorced.  He married Diana Cooke in 1997.  Jerry was a Division Manager of Supply Management at John Deere, retiring in 2004, with 25 years of service.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Diana, of Cedar Falls; his children, Matthew Jerome Gehrke (Dr. Mina Kim) of Philadelphia, PA and Sarah (Aaron) Welch of Oklahoma City, OK; his stepchildren: Todd (Julie) Buckner of Shakopee, MN, Scott Buckner of Cedar Falls, and Molly (Matthew) Wertz of Waterloo; grandchildren, Milo & Eli Welch and Ben & Jack Gehrke; step-grandchildren: Matthew & Allison Buckner and Landon, Grady and Eva Wertz; sisters, Sandra Knief of Cedar Falls, Patricia (John) Knudson of Denver, and Pamela (Dale) Brickman of Waverly; and many nieces & nephews.  He was preceded in death by his parents; step-granddaughter, Abigail Buckner; nephew, Tom Trzaskos; and brother-in-law, Loren Knief.

Jerry's Memorial Service will be held at 1:00 pm on Friday, October 29, 2021 at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Cedar Falls, with Visitation the evening prior from 4:00pm–6:00 pm at Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home in Cedar Falls.  Memorials may be directed to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank or the Nazareth Youth Programs and condolences can be left at www.DahlFuneralHome.com .

Jerry had a competitive nature and loved to play golf and cards.  He and Diana enjoyed traveling when his health allowed and visited Arizona, Hawaii, Florida and California.  Jerry was a great story-teller and also liked to write.  He will be greatly missed!