JERRY H. PEPPLER, 82, of Fort Wayne, passed away on Wednesday, July 13, 2022, in the loving embrace of his wife, Carolyn, and family at Parkview Hospital. Born in Fort Wayne on April 7, 1940, Jerry was the youngest of four children and a son of Helen and Arthur Peppler. Jerry was known for his intelligence, wit, selflessness, and overall noncompliance, as well as his deep reverence for family, college sports, and a dry martini. A graduate of South Side High School and Purdue University, Jerry spent much of his life designing new technologies through his work as an engineer at Bell Labs, Magnavox, Raytheon, and others which earned him several U.S. patents. He met the love of his life on a business trip in Cincinnati and married her on the 4th of July, 1969. Throughout his life, he surrounded himself with family and friends, whether golfing, devising new prizes for his bridge group, or hitting the road to support his beloved Purdue football team. Upon retirement, he traveled the world, attended Spamilton by mistake, and perfected both the holiday eggnog and The Journal Gazette's daily Sudoku. He is survived by his wife, Carolyn; children, Bernice Peppler, Anthony (Sania) Peppler and Kylie (Eric) Peppler; grandchildren, Stacie (Kevin) Gass, Stephanie (Randy) Wyse, Aidan, William, Sienna, Eli, Lena, and Samuel; and great-grandchildren, Keaton, Addison, Randy Jr., Carson, Brody, Lydia, Cohen, and Sawyer. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, Arthur and Meyrle Peppler; sisters-in-law, Barbara and Sally Peppler; and grandson, Ryan Kanning. Service is 2 p.m. Monday, July 18, 2022, at Greenlawn Memorial Park Funeral Home, with visitation from noon to 2 p.m. Participants are invited to stay after for hors d'oeuvres and drinks in Jerry's honor.
Published by Fort Wayne Newspapers on Jul. 16, 2022.
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MEMORIAL EVENTS
JUL
18
Visitation
12:00p.m. - 2:00p.m.
IN
JUL
18
Service
2:00p.m.
Greenlawn Memorial Park Funeral Home
IN
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Greenlawn Funeral and Cremation Services
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MEMORIES & CONDOLENCES
1 Entry
I met Jerry in 1977 when I joined Magnavox. Jerry was a very accomplished systems engineer, who mentored me.
I learned to play bridge from Jerry and thoroughly enjoyed the Friday Night group for many years. Our December visits to Jerry's house for bridge were special. Carolyn's baking and festive decorating along with Jerry's eggnog, and favorable cards from the bridge Gods made lasting memories.
Jerry, I hope you're able to find a bridge game in heaven.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family.
Dr. Peppler, as he was known to many of us, taught us all how to be better human beings.
