Friday, October 5, 2018
Gerald and I met in Boy Scouts when we were 11 and quickly became good friends. As a great friend, he helped me get my first job at Mick-or-Mack, where we bagged groceries our Junior and Senior years and had great fun as teenagers are apt to do, with concerts, cars and double-dates. We lost touch for some time after I moved away to various cities around the USA but reconnected after we retired, seeing each other annually at Christmas when I hosted dinners for 20-30 of our friends and their families. I last spoke to Gerald the week before he passed away for over an hour, when we again shared many laughs about the past, recent politics and family events. Those who knew him might remember him as somewhat shy and retiring but with those he trusted he was a very good and loyal friend, willing to help anyone who asked in any way. Nancy, who also worked at the grocery store with us, was his very best friend who he fished with at Nags Head often, calling to tell me of their latest competition, of which Nancy usually won. In my business I literally met tens of thousands of people and made many good friends; Gerald will be remembered by me as one of the best and missed by all as a very nice, private, gentle person. Nancy, my heart and prayers go out to you, sweetheart. Just remember Gerald will have the perfect fishing hole waiting on you in Heaven one day and you can outdo him again and again and again.
