Jerry was born in Grand Island, Nebraska, on January 26, 1944 to Angela M (Schmidt) and Leonard C Arehart. He was raised on a farm 16 miles from Ansley for 16 years. When he started school at Sunny Slope, a one-room school house, there were 4 students – Jerry, his sisters Jan and Gina, a neighbor kid, LeRoy.
Childhood farm stories were one of his favorite conversation topics. Jerry attended St Anne’s high school in Lexington for 2 years. After the family sold the Nebraska farm and moved to Idaho, in 1961, he attended and graduated St Teresa’s Academy in Boise Idaho.
He graduated with a machinist AA degree from Boise Junior College. In 1965, Jerry moved to San Francisco to take a machinist job with Hewlett-Packard. He worked for HP for nearly 20 years, finishing HP’s apprentice program and becoming a Journeyman Machinist.
He completed another AA in Machine Tool Technology through DeAnza College and Foothill College. Jerry worked hard, however San Francisco in the late 1960’s was a wild city and Jerry joined that party wholeheartedly. In 1971, Jerry married Saundra June Bertoni.
They had two sons, Jerome Leonard (Jay) and Christopher Michael. Jerry and Sandi divorced in 1976. Jerry married Deborah Gay Booth in 1981.
In the Bay Area, they motorcycled, riding the hills with friends almost every weekend. Jerry and Debbi moved to Star, Idaho in 1984, where they raised horses and golden retrievers. They spent a lot of time horseback-riding and camping with friends in the nearby mountains.
They had no children, but Jay came to live them in 1985. Jerry worked as a tool and cutter grinder, then a supervisor and inspector, at Advanced Precision Machining (APM), in Boise, from 1983-2013. In 1991, Jerry and Debbi divorced, Jay graduated high school and joined the army.
Chris joined him in 2001. Jerry moved to So. Boise, then Eagle, continuing to raise horses, ride and camp until 2001.
Since then, he has resided in Meridian. Jerry lived for ‘a good deal’. When he found one, he’d buy lavishly, then give what he’d bought freely to his family, recounting ‘the deal’ with glee.
Flea markets and swap meets were a passion and, for several years, he participated as a vendor, selling all kinds of knives, from the mundane paring knife to the exotic, carved, mammoth-tooth handled, sheath knife. He is preceded in death by his parents, sisters, and two grandsons, Kyler Ray, Mario He is survived by a close family – Jay and his wife Suzi; Chris and his wife Monika; 7 grandchildren – Kalebh, Cecelia, Braylynne, Bryana, Justus, Gabe, and Sawyer; 3 great-grandchildren – Oliver, Julian and Emmy; his brother Tim and his wife Barb; his lifelong friend of 31 years Barbara (Barbi), and a hoard of cousins, nephews and nieces, many of whom live nearby. He will be sorely missed by all whose hearts he touched in so many ways.
A graveside service will be held at 2:00 P.M. Friday, November 30, 2018 at the Mount Calvary Cemetery, Nampa.
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