Occupation:  Retired and Advocate of Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and Universal Accessibility

Marital Status:  Wife of 45 years recently deceased – July 27, 2011 – but remains a huge part of my life – Kathleen (Kathy) Ganiere (Clark)

Family:  One son and his wife and two children

From Jerry:

After graduating from Waukesha H.S., I immediately entered UWM and obtained a B.S. Degree, majoring in Pre Med and English, and I was subsequently accepted into the UW, Madison Medical School. However, I was also pursuing my wife to be, and she won, and so did I. And being honest with myself, I do not think I was mentally prepared for 4 long years of medical school, a year’s internship, and anywhere from 3 to 7 years in study in a specialty field. I never regretted my choice as evidenced by those 45 wonderful years with my wife.

My grades and course work did enable me to obtain an advanced in-hire  job in the Federal Service which ended up providing me with a lifelong 35 year career in Human Resources with significant opportunity for increased responsibility, upward movement, and advancement in both operational and managerial roles. I started work in Chicago, got married, and was fortunate to get an early transfer to Colorado in 1967 where I then completed 25 proud years working for the military with 24 years in Colorado Springs -- 12 years in NORAD and another dozen years at the Air Force Academy (although I did not cross assignment years with LtGen Oelstrom -- smile). And I didn’t wear a uniform, carry a rifle, fly a jet, or attend basic training, but I did do pretty much everything else the military did to include evaluations, IG Inspections, war planning, operations planning, using military quarters on TDY’s (yuck), etc., in addition to my primary work in nearly every area of Human Resources over the years, including Computer and Data Management.

To improve my retirement package, we moved to Golden in the Denver area in 1991, where I worked for the Bureau of Reclamation (we built and managed dams in the western half of the US such as Hoover Dam) for the next 10 years. I then retired in 2000 and soon became a minor thorn in the side of the City of Golden by promoting ADA and Universal Accessibility -- with some fairly decent successes.

I was going to end my profile at this point, but then I decided I might allay some repetitive questions by addressing my handicap. Yes, I am old school regarding this term and said “handicap”. I was born a paraplegic, but I only had a few problems until I was 13 when I spent a year in hospitals and bed with surgeries and rehab for those many months. I ended up missing a year of school and entered high school after a year’s absence, which explains my earlier birthday than most of my 1961 classmates.

I had pioneering surgery to correct a birth defect back problem, but spent years recovering, and with a lot of hard work, I managed to enter high school standing upright, but carrying canes and wearing braces. I continued rehab and managed to get down to only need one cane by the time I went to the south campus, and I stayed at that level through most of my working years which made working easier than if I had not had the radical surgery. I started a gradual physical decline, probably about age 50, and although I had always viewed using a wheelchair as being a defeat, I was persuaded to try one in 1997. It turned out to be a wonderful  move, and using a wheelchair at this stage of my life restored me to living freely on my own once more after having become debilitated to the point of being almost a recluse often unwilling to attempt to go outside. I now go where and when I want to, completely on my own once again.

My wife was also handicapped. She was an above the knee amputee as the result of a boating accident. I met her in the hospital where she was a patient after her accident, and where I was working while going through pre-med at UWM. We made a pact early on in our marriage to divide responsibilities. I would work and bring home the pay check, and she would become full time home maker, mom, and financial manager. We fortunately both loved our roles, and we enabled each other for 45 years by recognizing each other’s roles and not interfering with them. And even now, I try to remember how she did things and I try to emulate her.

There is one more part of my life which I greatly enjoyed, and that was spending 12 years coaching youth soccer, serving as youth Soccer Club Director, and being on the Board of Directors of the Colorado State Youth Soccer Association. This also happened to partially cross my years at the Air Force Academy, and I used my contacts in the Athletic Department to help stage and direct some youth soccer tournaments. This included participating teams from around the entire country. It was quite an awesome sight to view the playing field from atop one of the lookout spots and see as many as 50 teams playing at one time on 25 soccer fields with maybe a couple of thousands spectators there as well.

I attempted to throw a very tiny bit of humor in this too long piece, especially with respect to the Air Force Academy and my years working with the military. I hope it worked. It’s also longer than I intended, but so be it. And maybe a little wordy is okay since this is the first time I’ve offered anything in the last 50 years.

WOW!  Where have 50 years gone?  I graduated from the University of Wisconsin then served 6 years in the Army Reserve and worked in retail (Gimbels) becoming a buyer then wholesale buyer, then real estate until retirement 10/07.





I arrived to permanent retirement in Naples, Florida 11/1/07 and absolutely love it here.  I fortunately purchased my home 12/04 and had a great time preparing it for my arrival.  It is really true that time keeps passing by faster as we get older.  I try to enjoy it to the max!  Coming to Wisconsin twice this year, Germany in June and who knows what else.





I have two grandchildren who just enjoyed another visit to Naples.  I also then got to share the Disney World experience with them, my daughter & son-in-law.  They of course are absolutely perfect in Pompa's eyes.  As with most of us there were those ups and downs along the way.  I am now so fortunate and life is great! 





I congratulate the Reunion Committee for the fabulous job they are doing and look forward to seeing you at our 50th Reunion in August.