| School: Commerce | Graduation Year: 1937 |
Year Inducted: 2013
Sports Played: Football, Soccer, Basketball, Baseball
High School Honors: Football: 4-year letter winner; Team Captain as a Senior. Soccer: 4-year letter winner; All-City Goal Keeper as a Junior and Senior. Basketball: 2-year letter winner. Baseball: 3-year letter winner.
Post High School Career: 1937 Willamette University on a Football Scholarship. 25-year Football Official for Pac 8 and 10, World Football League and U.S. Football League. 17-year Commissioner of Portland Basketball Officials. 14-year Commissioner of Portland Football Officials Association. 30 years with the Portland Police Bureau. Officiated for 50 years including high school and small college. Portland Royal Rosarian and Shriner. Executive Director Volunteers of America.
Little league coach. Public safety instructor Portland community college (for associates degree leading to law enforcement.
Commentary:
While completing a 30-year career as a Portland police sergeant, he used his “spare time” to officiate or assign officials to games in football for 43 years and basketball 50 years. He officiated at the Rose Bowl and East-West games.
In 1965 the Oregon School Activities Association commended Jerry “for 50 years of dedication and commitment to high school athletics. Your loyalty and dedicated service to the youth of our state is impeccable and unparalleled. In a society that is often drive by greed and self serving interests, you are a shining example of unselfish dedication to young people. Our state is a better place because of you. The football field will miss you next fall. The thousands of young men who have benefited from your 50 years of dedicated service as a football official in our state will continue to reap the benefits from your extraordinary career. Congratulations Jerry, on a job well done.” (November 6, 1995).
In 1996 he received The Oregonian Banquet of Champions Merit Award and a year later he was inducted into the Cleveland Athletic Hall of Fame.
Daughter Merilee provided this information on her Dad. Of the many tributes he received at his 2010 memorial service, she said “the most valuable was how important his life was in influencing the lives of young people in a positive way.”