Jerry Heath
Geraldine Anna "Jerry" (Clausen) Heath who died May 10, 2002, at Cincinnati, Ohio, was born June 20, 1910, on a farm near Peabody.
Following graduation from Peabody High School in 1926, she attended Kansas State at Manhattan, majoring in journalism.
She married Gene Heath at Peabody Nov. 28, 1928.
The couple had two children, Mary Louise and Theodore Wesley. The family lived on a farm south of Peabody prior to moving to Marion in 1946.
Gene was Marion County Noxious Weed Supervisor and Jerry was his assistant.
When Gene was appointed to the Kansas State Board of Agriculture Noxious Weed Division, she became county supervisor for a short time.
She also served as a secretary in Wayne Colle's Farm Bureau Insurance office for several years.
During the hard times of the early 1930s she founded the hot lunch program in the Peabody school district.
Following their retirement in 1972, Jerry and Gene enjoyed their new home in Marion and also spent time visiting their daughter and husband, Mary and Hoot Gibson, and their children, Brian and Susan, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and son Ted and Jane (Hipple) Heath and their children, Kim, Brett, Kyle, and Matt of Kansas City.
They enjoyed fishing and boating on area lakes and in 1988 observed their 60th wedding anniversary.
She enjoyed writing, taught Sunday school 50 years at Valley United Methodist Church, and also enjoyed teaching her granddaughters how to make quilts.
A basketball and football fan, she especially enjoyed attending K-State games.
She was devoted to her church, where the congregation observed "Jerry Heath Day" after 51 years of faithful service.
Services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Valley United Methodist Church with burial in the cemetery at Peabody. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be sent to the Valley United Methodist Church or the Ted Heath Scholarship Fund at KSU Foundation.
Her husband, Gene, died in 1989 and their son, Ted, died in 1982.
Survivors include her brother, John Clausen of Peabody; children and grandchildren Dr. John and Mary Gibson, Brian, Jennifer, and Duncan of Cincinnati, Ohio, Susan Gibson of Menlo Park, Calif.; Jan Heath, Kim Heath, Matt and Lisa Heath, Tyler, Blake, and Jackson of Kansas City, Brett Heath, Jessica, Jake, and Luke of Houston, and Kyle Heath of Austin, Texas.
