Gerald "Jerry" Wallace, former Thespian of the Year and Prom King of Waterville High, passed away April 14, 2025, quietly and without much fanfare. He was 83. He was in his Happy Place, his beloved home, in Traverse City, Michigan.

Jerry was born in Toledo, Ohio, to Carrie and Bill Wallace. His favorite and only sister, Marilyn (Wardle), was born several years later. He spent most of his life after Ohio in LaGrange, Illinois.

Jerry met the love of his life, Judy (Fletcher) at Purdue University, two weeks into her tenure there. They enjoyed 60 glorious and adventure-filled years married. They had two pretty near-perfect children, Jill and Julie Wallace (Christopher Hoffelt). Somehow, those two daughters produced 5 entertaining and enthusiastic grandchildren. Carrie and Adele Gorman plus Reo, Roland and Declan Hoffelt. Jerry thought the sun rose and set on each one of them.

Jerry was an Army officer from 1964 to 1968. He attended Airborne and Ranger training, where he was first in his class. During the Tet Offensive in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968, he received a Purple Heart and two Bronze Stars.

After returning from Vietnam, he joined IBM. After seven years, he and a partner started a computer software company.

Jerry was a humble man and rarely drew attention to himself. He preferred to give gifts to children in need rather than receive them himself, and was an active member of the LaGrange Kiwanis Club.

His life passions were golf, sailing, and trying to grow fruit trees in a forest where he fulfilled his dream of building a family log home. He planted an orchard and grew a grand total of three cherries and one pear that we luckily took a picture of before the raccoons got it.

Jerry's quick wit and humor are evident in his subsequent generations. We all laughed frequently and loudly. A demanding task master, Jerry was soft to his core. He loathed hospitals and was a terrible patient, but had a reputation for beating ambulances to the hospital if a family member was in need and was always the first to visit ailing friends. He held a special place in his heart for the elderly, the piano playing of his father-in-law, Reo Fletcher (Delphi), and the hundreds of friends his daughters and grandkids brought home over the years. He would grumble and complain as everyone drank his beer and ate his food, but he loved every minute together.

He will be sorely missed by all, particularly his girls and grandkids, his sister, niece, Megin Wardle (Dan Ortiz), brother-in-law Gary Fletcher (Ellen), and of course, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Judy.

A Celebration of Life will follow at a later date.