Gerald Hadley

Jerry Hadley worked hard to provide for his family, and he found the reward for his effort in the warm company of his children and grandkids. Jerry was a loving husband, father, and grandpa. He regarded his family as his greatest achievement, and he was the happiest in their company.

With the end of the Great War, the 1920’s emerged as a decade of prosperity. The stock market soared and national industry boomed. Amid this climate of good fortune Thomas Hadley and his wife Emma discovered another reason to celebrate. They were expecting a child, and on June 3, 1927 they were blessed with the healthy birth of their son Gerald.

The youngest of three children, Jerry grew up in Ionia County, Michigan with the company of his siblings Kenneth and Alice. He received his early education in Ionia. After completing the eighth grade he enrolled at Union High School in Grand Rapids, where he explored his interest in music by playing the clarinet in the school band. . He attended Davis Tech for two years annd graduated from Union High School in the class of 1945.

In the year 1950, Jerry attended an event at the Hi-Lo Club, a social club where the men needed to be taller than six feet and the women needed to be taller than five-eight. Jerry satisfied this requirement, and so did an attractive young woman named Beverly Allinson. Jerry and Bev easily fell into a conversation, and by the end of the night they had made plans to see each other again. This evening marked the beginning of a romantic courtship that ended in marriage one year later, on July 7, 1951.

Following the wedding, Jerry and Bev settled into a home on Eastern Avenue SE. They later moved to the West Side of Grand Rapids, to the house on Jennette Street NW. Jerry and Bev were blessed with five wonderful children, James, John, Alice, Michelle, and Julie. Jerry was a devoted father. He taught his children many important skills, and he instilled the value of a hard work ethic.

Jerry’s professional career started at Purchase Electric. In the following years he briefly worked for Western Radio and Karns Electronics. He then began working at AMI Rowe International, where he formed many valuable friendships. He was a hard worker, known for his tenacity and meticulousness. He retired from AMI after more than twenty years.

With retirement Jerry discovered more time to devote to his hobbies and interests. He loved woodworking, especially cabinet-making, and he enjoyed making stained glass. He liked to go hunting and fishing with his friends, and he also enjoyed building and flying remote control airplanes. Jerry enjoyed photograph and developed his own photos in his in his house but also enjoyed the newest in digital photography as well. According to his children, his favorite possessions were his Mauser rifle and his woodworking tools.

In his later years Jerry was thrilled to see his family grow with the blessing of ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild. He deeply cherished all of the time that he spent with the youngest members of his family. Every year he and Bev invited them to the family cottage on Sylvan Lake for Grandkids Camp, a week of of swimming, laughing, and fun. According to the grandkids, “There was alway a trip to Michigan Adventure, secret passwords that changed daily, and at the end of the week we’d make custom T-shirts to commemorate the vacation.” It was a tradition that whoever helped dish out the nightly ice cream received an extra scoop.

In 1987 Jerry and Bev permanently moved to the cottage on Sylvan Lake. They wintered in Palmetto, Florida, which provided the setting for many of Jerry and Bev’s favorite memories. In the late nineties they moved once more to the house on 76th Street in Allendale.

Jerry dedicated his life to his family, and in their warm company a familiar smile always brimmed over his lips. He was a humorous, boisterous, bullheaded man whose gentle interior endeared him to many. Among his family and friends, he will be greatly missed and frequently remembered.

Jerry died on Saturday, July 28, 2007. He was preceded in death by his wife Beverly in 2001, after forty-nine years of marriage. Surviving are his children, James R. Hadley and his partner, Mary E. Bueche of Grand Rapids, John K. Hadley of Ada, Alice L. Hadley and David Richardson of Williamstown, MA., Michelle J. and Scott Chatman of Allendale, Julie A. Hadley of Grand Rapids; 10 grandchildren, Melinda, Justin, Rebecca, Sarah, Heather, Amelia, Stephanie, Christina, Wesley and Nicholas and one great grandchild, Ethan. Also surviving is his close companion, Charlene Wilkerson. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday at 11AM at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, 4351 Parnell Ave. NE, Parnell with interment in Resurrection Cemetery. Friends may meet the family at the Heritage Lifestory Funeral Home-Alt & Shawmut Hills Chapel, 2120 Lake Michigan Dr NW on Tuesday from 2-4 and 7-9PM. Memorial contributions may be made to Faith Hospice of Trillium Woods, 8214 Pfeiffer Farms Dr. Byron Center, 49315. Please visit Jerry’s personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you can archive a favorite memory or sign the online guestbook.