Gerald (Jerry) Goedert, 80, of Palmyra, passed away peacefully July 13, 2018, at Jefferson Memory Care after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.
Jerry was born on Sept. 3, 1937, in Port Washington. He graduated from Port Washington High School in 1955, and then worked as a Machinist for P&H Harnischfeger in Milwaukee, for 25 years, retiring in 1996.
He spent his early years fishing, fur trapping, hunting and boating, and for a period of time raced stock cars. Jerry was drafted into the Army in 1960, where he served in the Field Artillery Division at Fort Hamilton, N.Y., and later in Augsburg, Germany. He was married to Cherilyn Rea Cesar from October 1966 until they divorced in October 1971.
Jerry was an outdoorsman with a contagious passion for life and devilish, witty humor. He enjoyed canoeing, snowmobiling, bon fires and time at the cottage on Otter Lake in Eagle River. He also had a passion for travel, having visited Alaska, Hawaii, Germany, Spain, London, several U.S. National Parks and almost all 50 states. He attended the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and countless NASCAR and IndyCar races at the Milwaukee Mile. Jerry also loved polka music, collector cars and cribbage. In 1997, he won the world’s largest competitive cribbage tournament in Reno, Nev., beating 1,024 contestants to claim the American Cribbage Congress Championship.
Jerry was a 45-year resident of Palmyra, living across the street from Blue Spring Lake since 1972 on the beautiful wooded land he loved.
He is survived by his sister, Shirley Breidenstein, Oklahoma City, Okla.; his three children, D’Andra Winegar, Janesville, Michael Goedert, Fond Du Lac, and Debra Schleich, Aurora, Colo.; as well as eight grandchildren, Christopher, Jennifer, David, Joseph, Brandan, Katie, Garrett and Gavin. He was preceded in death by his parents, Henry and Margaret Goedert, and sisters, Jean Olszewski and Carol Dopp.
A funeral service will be at Haase-Lockwood & Associates at 320 W. Main St., Palmyra, Wednesday, July 18 at 6 p.m. with visitation from 5 p.m. until the time of service. Friends are invited to gather after the service at Hot Rods 200 W. Main St. Palmyra, to celebrate Jerry’s life as he would have wanted with reminiscing and laughter. The burial will be at Port Washington Union Cemetery, Jct. W. Oakland Ave. and S. Park St. Port Washington, Thursday at 11 a.m. – please meet at the cemetery.
A special thank you to the loving, attentive and selfless staff at Jefferson Memory Care and Rainbow Hospice, who provided compassionate care to Jerry in his final two years. They reminisced with him about old times, embraced his witty humor, made sure his favorite polka and Johnny Cash CDs played often and loved him like family.
