Jerome Francis Gmach

1922 - 2014

Jerome Francis Gmach
Jerome Francis Gmach, 92, of Rogers passed away peacefully and with all his children at his side on December 30th, 2014.
He was born in Rogers, MN on July 30th, 1922, to the late Math and Lena (Stenglein) Gmach. Jerome graduated from Elk River High School in 1940 and married his beloved bride, Ferdella Rouillard on June 14th, 1949.
Jerome cherished his Catholic faith, his loving family and his vast network of close personal friends. He lived life to the fullest each and every day. While he enjoyed fishing, hunting, traveling, playing cards and many other activities, it was clear that these hobbies were just opportunities for Jerome to build the relationships that would last him a lifetime. His love for family could not be more obvious than when watching his eyes light up and seeing a big smile cross his face when his great-grandchildren entered the room. Jerome dutifully served his country as a veteran of WWII in the US Army Air Force from 1942-1946. Jerome lived his entire life within the community of Rogers and some of his commitments to the city included serving 12 years on the City Council, 31 years on the Volunteer Fire Department and 13 years as the city Building Inspector. These services were performed simultaneous to Jerome's tenure of 40 years of dedicated employment to Southside Lumber Company. Jerome was a charter member of both the Rogers Lions and VFW and has been an active member of St. Martin Catholic Church for 72 years.
Jerome was preceded in death by Ferdella, his loving wife of 65 years who passed away earlier this year; his brothers Marcellus, Leo and Gerald; and his parents, Math and Lena. He is survived by four children; Ginny Carlson of Minneapolis; Cindy Kopetka (Frank) of Rogers; Lisa Maloney of Minnetonka and Jaime Gmach of Minneapolis. He is also survived by three grandchildren; Nina Kopetka, Nate Kopetka and J.P. Maloney and two great grandchildren, Maeve and Vinny Kopetka.
A visitation will be held at Dare's Funeral Home in Elk River from 3 PM to 6 PM on Sunday, January 4th. The funeral will take place at 10:30 AM on Monday, January 5th at St. Martin Catholic Church in Rogers preceded by a visitation at 9:30 AM and followed immediately by burial at St. Martin Cemetery.

With immense gratitude, the Gmach Family would like to extend a very special thanks to the incredible caregivers at The Diamondcrest at Wellstead and North Memorial Hospice. The kindness, loving care and companionship that you bestowed upon Jerome provided him greater peace and comfort while under your watchful eye.