Gerald Hendrickson

Gerald Lee "Jerry" Hendrickson, 74, passed away January 17, 2011 at the Idaho State Veterans Home in Pocatello. Jerry was born June 5, 1936 in Hebron, Nebraska, the older of two sons of Cecil and Venita Hendrickson. Jerry was raised and educated in Fairbury, Nebraska and graduated from Fairbury High School. At 6'6" he played center for the basketball team, and loved most all sports. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and fought in the Vietnam War. He spent his entire career in military service and was stationed at; Germany, Italy, Utah, Korea, Hawaii, Washington, and Colorado. He retired as a Staff Sergeant in 1976. He married JoAnn Blackburn on April 6, 1962 in Dugway, Utah. They had four daughters; Randi, Traci, Kari, and Kristi. They were later divorced. Jerry loved spectator sports. He has always been a Nebraska Cornhuskers' fan and also later became a Denver Broncos' fan. He had a passion for all sports but he also loved to be involved with his grandchildren's sporting and music events. On Veterans Day last year he was proud to receive the Spirit of Freedom Award from Senator Crapo. He also served on the Residence Council at the Idaho State Veterans Home. He loved his country! He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January, 1966. He is survived by his children, Randi (Cindi Earles) Singleton, Eagle Mountain, Utah, Traci (Kevin) Sessions, Rexburg, Idaho, Kari (Jason) Locher, and Kristi (Aaron) Locher, all of Colorado Springs, Colorado, a sister-in-law, Judy Hendrickson, Omaha, Nebraska, 12 grandchildren, 1 great grandchild and two, nieces Lori Fredrickson, and Jill Duranski. He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Tom Hendrickson. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 22, 2011 at 11:00 A.M. at the Pocatello Veterans Home located at 1957 Alvin Ricken Drive, with a visitation for Jerry being held the day of the services from 10 - 10:45 A.M. at the Veterans Home. Burial will follow at the Rexburg Cemetery with military honors being performed by the Rexburg Veterans Honor Guard. The family would like to thank all of the nurses and staff at the Pocatello Veterans Home that took such good care of Jerry for over seven years. There are many that he was very close to and enjoyed their friendship. They were like family to him. In lieu of flowers please make any donations to the American Cancer Society. Colonial Funeral Home is caring for Gerald's family. Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.Colonial-FuneralHome.com. var so = new SWFObject("http://funeralrecording.com/_swf/jwplayer.swf","mpl","607","386","9"); so.addVariable('bufferlength','30'); so.addVariable("plugins", "gapro-1"); so.addVariable("gapro.accountid","UA-2599882-1"); so.addParam("allowscriptaccess","always"); so.addParam("allowfullscreen","true"); so.addParam('flashvars','&file=20110301_094317343_GeraldHendrickson.flv&streamer=rtmp://webcastonline.com/videorecorder'); so.write("player");