Gerald "Jerry" G. Case

Jerry was born on April 6, 1928.   He was raised on a farm in Lima, Ohio, the oldest of 6 children.  They didn’t have a lot of toys, but he had a knife, and so he carved airplanes, cars, etc. for all of them to play with.  In high school he started carving figures and ships out of scrap wood and gave them away as gifts.  As a teenager, one summer he worked at Lima Locomotive Works where he worked on the Challenger, the largest steam locomotive ever made. He has been a train aficionado ever since as evidenced by some of his woodburnings.

After high school he served in the Army from 1950-1952 teaching bomb disposal.

After his discharge from the Army he settled in New Jersey and did his tool and die apprenticeship, all the while still carving.  During his years working in the tool and die business he made the original prototype molds for Jet X, WaterPik, Lego, and Smith ski goggles to name a few.

He moved to Littleton in 1964 and in 1971 married Joann.  Between them they have 2 sons (Dave and Brian), a daughter (Linda) and 2 grandsons (Caleb and Dustin).

In 1983 they moved to Colorado Springs when Jerry went to work for Hewlett-Packard. 

After retiring from HP, they returned to the Denver area in 1995 where they settled back in Littleton.

In the late 80’s he began to focus on his woodcarving hobby.  He was essentially self taught in the carving of lifelike wildlife, primarily birds.  His pieces have been displayed in galleries in Taos, Santa Fe, Park City and Colorado Springs.   They earned him numerous ribbons and “Best of Show” in competitions throughout the region.   He shared his passion for carving by teaching others.  In 2019, he was selected as Carver of the Year by the Colorado Carvers Club. 

As an avid outdoorsman, he spent a lot of time in the Colorado outdoors fishing, hunting, and camping with Joann and the kids.  He went on numerous camping trips into the mountains as well as to California, Yellowstone, Lake Powell and Canada.  After retiring, he and Joann took the opportunity to travel abroad.  They took trips to places including an Alaskan cruise, Scandinavia, Italy, a Russian river cruise on the Volga, a river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest, the British Isles, and a train across Canada from Nova Scotia to Vancouver.

He was also passionate about the Colorado sports teams.   He rarely missed an opportunity to watch or attend a Broncos, Rockies, Avalanche or Nuggets game.  j

He passed away peacefully at home on August 13, 2023