Gerald "Jerry" Eugene Edmonds

Gerald Eugene Edmonds was born in Seattle on September 28, 1943 to Lloyd “Bud” Edmonds and Irene Yvonne (Lagasse) Edmonds.  He was preceded in death by his parents, Sister Irene (Edmonds) Neyens and Brother Lynn Edmonds.  He is survived by his wife Ruth Edmonds, Son Jay (Dana) Edmonds, Son Chris Edmonds, Granddaughter Jayna Edmonds, Granddaughter Katie Edmonds, and Grandson Dakota (Janae) Edmonds

Jerry’s parents became Christians when he was a boy and he accepted Jesus as his lord and savior around the age of 11.  They were active in the Christian Missionary Alliance church in Bellingham.  Jerry was a hardworking man having his first job as a paperboy at the age of 11.  He purchased his families first TV with his earnings.  Later, after he had his drivers license, he added a second paper route delivering the Seattle PI before school.  This sometimes would cause him to fall asleep in class.  He enjoyed mechanical things and started by tearing his parents lawnmower apart and reassembling it.  Not sure how excited his dad was with that, but it did go back together. Soon he was working on his own vehicles.  He had the first burgundy 56 chev in town.  He may have been known to race on occasion.  He was also a capable carpenter as that was the profession of his dad.

Growing up in Bellingham, there wasn’t a lot of room for animals, but he kept pigeons as pets.  His parents moved to San Francisco to work at Simpson Bible College while he was still in high school.  He lived in the family home on Ellis St until he had gotten married and moved out to the county where he raised his family.  He met his beloved bride Ruth Kelln at a drive-in movie the summer after graduating from high school.  He and a friend were flirting with a couple of girls in the next car over.  When the girls went to the concession stand, dad and his friend thought it would be a good idea to jump in the girl’s car.  When the girls came back, instead of getting in their car, they decided to get in the boy’s car and the relationship had begun.  They were married August 1^st, 1964 and moved to their Kline Rd residence in 1966.  Jerry always liked animals and wanted to have a farm. The 10 acres they purchased allowed that to happen starting with their first cow Blackie. They had a cat named snowball, dog named snoopie, a pig named petunia, some rabbits and pigeons.

  Jerry still had his love for speed and had various cars and motorcycles.  There is always a car that got away and for Jerry it was a 1964 Silver GTO.  It was a very fast car able to turn in the 13 seconds in the ¼ mile.  He had a lot of fun in that car, but to help keep out of trouble, he disabled the 1^st and 3^rd carburator on the factory tri-power.  It would set you back in your seat, but it wasn’t really a family car and soon made way for a stationwagon.  When he got married, he was working at fountain auto and holding down a second part time job at Chris’ Chervron on Broadway and Northwest.  Ruthie would go visit him on his breaks.  It wasn’t long before he started to work for Diehl Ford where he worked for 44 and a half years. He fully enjoyed working there as a partsman, serving the customers and developing relationships.  God had truly provided him with a wonderful place to work.  While working at Diehl Ford, he met Harold White.  The two loved farming and became partners in a “hobby” farm.  At the largest it was about 70 head of cattle and they would put up around 10000 bales of hay a year.  All after work. 

Jerry was athletic as well and played many years of slow pitch softball and basketball after high school.  He was musical as he played trumpet while in school and also enjoyed singing as a member of the mens chorus at New Life Fellowship later in life. Many great memories were made as they toured the county to singing engagements.

 With the coming of two boys, his life was quickly filled with filming sporting events, coaching little league teams, fixing minibikes and go karts as well as running the farm.  He ran the chains for the Meridian High School football team for 30+ years and kept stats and ran the clock for the basketball team while the boys were in school.  His love for cars resurfaced when he and his son Jay purchased a 1936 ford pick up to turn into a hot rod.  He always wanted a 1932 five window coupe and when the opportunity arose, he was able to purchase one and build a hotrod of his own.  He was a founding member of the Street Deacons car club and enjoyed going to car shows, cruises and road trips.  The longest being a trip to Yellowstone.  As Grandchildren came along, he could be seen at all of their events and loved them dearly.

Jerry served as an Elder at the Christian Missionary Alliance Church as well as New Life Fellowship.  He was a man of integrity that stood for the Gospel and was a role model for many young men.  There are many more things to say as this is but a small picture into his life, but he will be remembered as a loving Husband, Father, Grandfather, Uncle and friend who loved the Lord and served Him well.  In his life he influenced many people and we praise God for his life.