Jerome "Jerry" Rickerl was raised in Dell Rapids, South Dakota. He graduated from Saint Mary's Catholic High school in May 1937, at the age of sixteen. In April 1939 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was stationed at Fort Meade in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He served for six months as a private in Troop E, 4th Cavalry. During his enlistment he suffered a head injury; he lost his right eye as a result of the accident and ensuing infection. In October 1939 he was released from the hospital and honorably discharged from the Army, in poor physical condition and with a lump-sum disability payment. For the rest of his life Jerry received a monthly pension allowance from the U.S. Army.
In 1941 Jerry enrolled in South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota as a civil engineering major. He married Frances Mae Straight and they began their family in 1942. On 24 May 1944 he suspended his education and enlisted once again in the 3706th Base Unit of the Army Air Forces, He was an armorer, and as sergeant he supervised a stateside weapons unit of thirty-five men. Despite his partial blindness, Jerry was qualified as a rifle sharpshooter. He served until demobilization 04 Jun 1946. The family returned to Brookings where Jerry resumed his studies. He completed his curriculum in the summer of 1947 and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering with the 1948 graduating class.
After graduation, Jerry joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Missouri River Project, as a civil service employee. Over the course of his twenty-five year career he was posted at Fort Randall Dam, Gavins Point Dam, Big Bend Dam, the Omaha District Office and the Rocky Mountain Area Office. He progressed from a GS-7 construction engineer to a GS-13 supervisory civil engineer. In 1966 he was named area engineer of Big Bend Dam and supervised the dam's transition to automated operations.
Jerry retired from the Corps in 1973. He then spent five years in the private sector with Winslow Construction Company, working with the Corps on Cherry Creek Dam in Denver, Colorado. By 1978 he was fully retired. He and his wife Fran traveled around the country visiting family; they camped and fished in the Rocky Mountains near their Colorado Springs home, sometimes taking their children or grandchildren with them. Always curious and creative, Jerry learned silversmithing and how to work with stained glass. He tended a large vegetable garden every summer. Jerry loved spending time in the Rocky Mountains and in the Arizona/New Mexico desert. All his life he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a quick wit and loved puns, jokes and satire.
Jerry underwent a triple heart bypass in 1986, and it was about the same time he learned he had prostate cancer. With radiation he went into remission for two years, but relapsed in early 1988 and died within a few weeks.
In 1941 Jerry enrolled in South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota as a civil engineering major. He married Frances Mae Straight and they began their family in 1942. On 24 May 1944 he suspended his education and enlisted once again in the 3706th Base Unit of the Army Air Forces, He was an armorer, and as sergeant he supervised a stateside weapons unit of thirty-five men. Despite his partial blindness, Jerry was qualified as a rifle sharpshooter. He served until demobilization 04 Jun 1946. The family returned to Brookings where Jerry resumed his studies. He completed his curriculum in the summer of 1947 and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering with the 1948 graduating class.
After graduation, Jerry joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Missouri River Project, as a civil service employee. Over the course of his twenty-five year career he was posted at Fort Randall Dam, Gavins Point Dam, Big Bend Dam, the Omaha District Office and the Rocky Mountain Area Office. He progressed from a GS-7 construction engineer to a GS-13 supervisory civil engineer. In 1966 he was named area engineer of Big Bend Dam and supervised the dam's transition to automated operations.
Jerry retired from the Corps in 1973. He then spent five years in the private sector with Winslow Construction Company, working with the Corps on Cherry Creek Dam in Denver, Colorado. By 1978 he was fully retired. He and his wife Fran traveled around the country visiting family; they camped and fished in the Rocky Mountains near their Colorado Springs home, sometimes taking their children or grandchildren with them. Always curious and creative, Jerry learned silversmithing and how to work with stained glass. He tended a large vegetable garden every summer. Jerry loved spending time in the Rocky Mountains and in the Arizona/New Mexico desert. All his life he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a quick wit and loved puns, jokes and satire.
Jerry underwent a triple heart bypass in 1986, and it was about the same time he learned he had prostate cancer. With radiation he went into remission for two years, but relapsed in early 1988 and died within a few weeks.
Jerome "Jerry" Rickerl was raised in Dell Rapids, South Dakota. He graduated from Saint Mary's Catholic High school in May 1937, at the age of sixteen. In April 1939 he enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and was stationed at Fort Meade in the Black Hills of South Dakota. He served for six months as a private in Troop E, 4th Cavalry. During his enlistment he suffered a head injury; he lost his right eye as a result of the accident and ensuing infection. In October 1939 he was released from the hospital and honorably discharged from the Army, in poor physical condition and with a lump-sum disability payment. For the rest of his life Jerry received a monthly pension allowance from the U.S. Army.
In 1941 Jerry enrolled in South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota as a civil engineering major. He married Frances Mae Straight and they began their family in 1942. On 24 May 1944 he suspended his education and enlisted once again in the 3706th Base Unit of the Army Air Forces, He was an armorer, and as sergeant he supervised a stateside weapons unit of thirty-five men. Despite his partial blindness, Jerry was qualified as a rifle sharpshooter. He served until demobilization 04 Jun 1946. The family returned to Brookings where Jerry resumed his studies. He completed his curriculum in the summer of 1947 and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering with the 1948 graduating class.
After graduation, Jerry joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Missouri River Project, as a civil service employee. Over the course of his twenty-five year career he was posted at Fort Randall Dam, Gavins Point Dam, Big Bend Dam, the Omaha District Office and the Rocky Mountain Area Office. He progressed from a GS-7 construction engineer to a GS-13 supervisory civil engineer. In 1966 he was named area engineer of Big Bend Dam and supervised the dam's transition to automated operations.
Jerry retired from the Corps in 1973. He then spent five years in the private sector with Winslow Construction Company, working with the Corps on Cherry Creek Dam in Denver, Colorado. By 1978 he was fully retired. He and his wife Fran traveled around the country visiting family; they camped and fished in the Rocky Mountains near their Colorado Springs home, sometimes taking their children or grandchildren with them. Always curious and creative, Jerry learned silversmithing and how to work with stained glass. He tended a large vegetable garden every summer. Jerry loved spending time in the Rocky Mountains and in the Arizona/New Mexico desert. All his life he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a quick wit and loved puns, jokes and satire.
Jerry underwent a triple heart bypass in 1986, and it was about the same time he learned he had prostate cancer. With radiation he went into remission for two years, but relapsed in early 1988 and died within a few weeks.
In 1941 Jerry enrolled in South Dakota State University in Brookings, South Dakota as a civil engineering major. He married Frances Mae Straight and they began their family in 1942. On 24 May 1944 he suspended his education and enlisted once again in the 3706th Base Unit of the Army Air Forces, He was an armorer, and as sergeant he supervised a stateside weapons unit of thirty-five men. Despite his partial blindness, Jerry was qualified as a rifle sharpshooter. He served until demobilization 04 Jun 1946. The family returned to Brookings where Jerry resumed his studies. He completed his curriculum in the summer of 1947 and received his B.S. in Civil Engineering with the 1948 graduating class.
After graduation, Jerry joined the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Missouri River Project, as a civil service employee. Over the course of his twenty-five year career he was posted at Fort Randall Dam, Gavins Point Dam, Big Bend Dam, the Omaha District Office and the Rocky Mountain Area Office. He progressed from a GS-7 construction engineer to a GS-13 supervisory civil engineer. In 1966 he was named area engineer of Big Bend Dam and supervised the dam's transition to automated operations.
Jerry retired from the Corps in 1973. He then spent five years in the private sector with Winslow Construction Company, working with the Corps on Cherry Creek Dam in Denver, Colorado. By 1978 he was fully retired. He and his wife Fran traveled around the country visiting family; they camped and fished in the Rocky Mountains near their Colorado Springs home, sometimes taking their children or grandchildren with them. Always curious and creative, Jerry learned silversmithing and how to work with stained glass. He tended a large vegetable garden every summer. Jerry loved spending time in the Rocky Mountains and in the Arizona/New Mexico desert. All his life he was an avid hunter and fisherman. He was a quick wit and loved puns, jokes and satire.
Jerry underwent a triple heart bypass in 1986, and it was about the same time he learned he had prostate cancer. With radiation he went into remission for two years, but relapsed in early 1988 and died within a few weeks.
