Friends and Family,
This is Jill, Jerry's daughter. I have been meaning to do this for several days but couldn't bring myself to do such. As many of you have heard by now, my father passed away this past Friday, February 20th.
Its odd to me to be sharing this note with you on Facebook. I think people like Dear Abby or Emily Post would be rolling in their own graves thinking about the thought of such news being discussed over the internet. Communication has changed - and my dad embraced the change. He was a hip 75 year old with an iPhone, a Facebook account, and fingers primed to respond to text messages!
As we go through the motions of planning a memorial service, we have found ourselves asking WWJW? (what would Jerry want?). We even asked WWJW when thinking about making this post. We hope that we get it right!
A memorial service recalling his life and celebrating his eternal life with Jesus will be held Monday, March 2, at 10:00am in the Gloria Dei Chapel. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be directed to St. Luke's Hospital-Transplant Department or Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Over the past 4 years, the Transplant team at St.Luke's provided such wonderful care and support and Gloria Dei provided the faith foundation that helped dad get through the tough times.
Interment will be held at the Houston National Cemetery later that day at 2:30pm. Last year, our family participated in the Flags for Fallen Vets effort to place flags near every marker at the National Cemetery to honor our Veterans on Memorial Day. It will be a truly special thing to place a flag near dad's marker this year to honor him.
I will close with a note of thanks to all for your kind words and prayers. Jerry Hook was an awesome husband, father and grandfather and a great friend to many. We can all take comfort in knowing that he is in Heaven having coffee with Jesus (something that he said was at the top of his list once he got there!) and that we will see him again some day.
I will leave you a story instead of an obituary (this was one of the answers to one of the many WWJW questions that we pondered!).
God's blessings to each of you.
Alice, Scott, and Jill
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Jerry's Story
Jerry Hook was born on October 4, 1939. He grew up in Des Moines, IA. Jerry met Alice while attending elementary school and church. They became high school sweethearts and were married on January 31, 1959. They celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary this year.
Jerry joined the Navy at the age of 17. During his years in the Navy, Jerry served aboard an aircraft carrier maintaining the planes in his squadron. His service time in the Navy led him and Alice to Sanford, FL, where their son Scott was born, Memphis, TN, where their daughter Jill was born, Jacksonville, FL, and eventually back to Des Moines on recruiting duty. Jerry’s shipboard travels took him around the world as he cruised aboard the USS Saratoga, USS Forrestal, and USS Ranger. Jerry retired from the Navy in 1972, celebrating 20 years of service to his country.
Upon retirement from the Navy, Jerry adjusted to normal life working in the area of electronic sales. The family lived on a small, “hobby” farm near Altoona, just outside of Des Moines. Jerry enjoyed his time on the tractor/mower, but plowing the 1/4 mile long driveway every winter sent the family to Clearwater, FL to escape the cold, snowy, Iowa winters. After 11 years, with kids grown and out of the house, Jerry and Alice returned to Iowa, where Jerry became a rural mail carrier. Through rain and snow and gloom of night, Jerry delivered the mail for 10 years. He retired from the post office in 2001. The next year they packed up again and moved to Houston for warm weather and grandchildren. Here he was blessed with his "most fun job ever," giving tours for Space Center Houston.
Jerry’s passions included his love of his corvette and the journeys that he and Alice enjoyed with their corvette friends. He cherished his church family. But most of all, Jerry’s passion was his family and friends. He enjoyed watching his grandchildren as they grew-up, loving every hockey game, volleyball match, band concert, and every book read and picture drawn along the way. He loved starting his day with friends at the mall to share stories and sip coffee. He loved talking to the mix of people who happened by.
Dr. Seuss wrote, “Don’t cry because its over, smile because it happened.” Jerry Hook’s life happened, and for that we can all smile.
Jerry is survived by his wife Alice, his son Scott Hook and his wife Kristina, his daughter Jill Lin and her husband Frank, and four grandchildren, Benjamin and Helana Hook and Halle and Kiersten Lin.
