Gerald "Jerry" E Homstad

In the early morning hours of Sunday, May 22, 2022, Gerald Edward “Jerry” Homstad lost his battle with Parkinson’s. After a fight lasting over 20 years, he is now at peace.

Born on August 3, 1949, in Havre, Montana, Jerry was the first-born, beloved son of Gerald Arthur and Gladys Marion (Simon) Homstad. He attended schools in Sidney, Montana, and Fresno and Rancho Cordova, California, graduating from Custer County High School in Miles City, Montana, in 1967. That fall, he boarded the Northern Pacific for Missoula to attend the University of Montana, where he swam for the men’s swim team, setting numerous records in the Big Sky Conference. Jerry also excelled as a student, studying physics and mathematics. Following his undergraduate studies, he earned a master’s degree in electrical engineering at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

His education and his bright, inquisitive, steel-trap mind served him well in his career. He worked for Delco Electronics in Santa Barbara, California, as well as for General Motors near Youngstown, Ohio, before joining AMI in Pocatello, Idaho, in 1980. At AMI, he was employed first as a design engineer and finally as President and CEO, leaving the company in 2000. Jerry received a patent for his “Noise Tolerant Multiple System.” In addition, Jerry had been a partner with Affinity Partners since 2006.

From 1990 until 2019, Jerry stayed involved in competitive swimming by volunteering as a meet referee for Snake River Swimming and Idaho High School Swimming. He further served in Pocatello as a member of the Portneuf Medical Center Hospital Board of Governors for 14 years, overseeing a period of significant hospital expansion.

Jerry wed Kathleen Roberts in 1969 in Miles City. Out of their 11-year marriage came three beautiful daughters: Emily Frances, Roxanne Marie, and Karen Ann. In 2000, Jerry married Fedelita “Odie” Labao in Manila, Philippines. Together, Jerry and Odie’s travels took them many times back to the Philippines and throughout the United States and Europe, including a wonderful trip to meet ancestral family near Overhalla, Norway, in 2015.

Many might know Jerry from his disciplined swimming at Reed Gym in Pocatello as he continued to swim laps every weekday morning until his Parkinson’s made that impossible. Many might know him as an affable and dedicated leader at AMI. Some may know him for his quick wit, dry sense of humor, and impatience with incompetence. We know him as husband, dad, brother, uncle, and grandpa. He was, and will ever remain, the rock of our family. And nothing will fill the hole his death has left in our hearts. But his suffering is over, and for that we are grateful.

Jerry leaves behind his wife of 22 years, Odie. Also surviving him are: his sister, Carla Homstad of Stevensville, Montana; his daughters, Emily of Milton, Massachusetts, Roxanne of New Orleans, and Karen of Pocatello; sons-in-law, Jack Walsh and Eric Nelson; grandsons, Jake Ryan, Joseph Thomas, and Jack Dylan Walsh, as well as Henry and Otis Homstad. Also saying goodbye are his siblings-in law and nieces and nephews in Odie’s extended family, as well as numerous cousins throughout the western U.S. Predeceasing him are his parents and his sister-in-law, Rosario “Chat” Labao. 

The family would like to express our appreciation of the staff at the Monte Vista Hills Health Care Center and Heritage Hospice whose caring assistance made this passage bearable. If you would like to memorialize Jerry’s life, please consider a donation to the Parkinson’s Foundation, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, or to the charity of your choice. And think of him driving fast, swimming fast, thinking deeply, and rooting for the Jazz.

A funeral mass will be held at 4:00 p.m. Wednesday, June 1, 2022 at St. Anthony Chapel, 504 N 7th Ave Pocatello, ID. A reception will follow the service at 6:00 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial Building, 300 N Johnson Ave, Pocatello.

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