Jerry F. Grimm

1941 - 2017

Jerry F. Grimm
July 2, 1941 - March 31, 2017
Jerry F. Grimm of Idaho Falls, Idaho, passed away at Portneuf Medical Center in Pocatello on March 31, 2017, following an illness.
Gerhild Freia Grimm was born July 2, 1941, to Rudolph and Waltraute Grimm at Graz, Austria, near where her father, a paymaster in the German army, was stationed. The family soon returned to their native Germany. Gerhild lived with her mother in Hannover, Germany, while her father was stationed on the Russian front.
As the Allied air raids intensified, Gerhild and her mother were evacuated to the countryside near Rinteln, Germany; a good thing as their home in Hannover was destroyed by the bombing a short time later. Her father survived the fighting on the Eastern front and rejoined his family when the war ended. They endured the post-war hardships at Rintlen, where Gerhild's brother, Reudiger (Randy), was born in 1947.
The family moved to Schongau, Germany, and from there immigrated to the United States in 1951. They lived in Salt Lake City for five years before finally settling in Pocatello. They all became U.S. citizens on Dec. 10, 1958, and officially "Americanized" their names. Thus, Gerhild became Jerry Frances Grimm.
Jerry graduated from Pocatello High School with the class of 1960. She then earned a dregree in Journalism at Idaho State University in Pocatello. After two brief, unsuccessful marriages, she returned to ISU to earn a degree in education. She then spent most of the 1970s teaching elementary pupils at a Native American day school in Dunsieth, North Dakota.
In the early 1980s she earned a master's degree in special education at Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota. After three one year terms at two schools in South Dakota, and one at Bimidji, Minnesota, she settled down in El Paso, Teexas about 1987. There, she taught special Ed. English at Bowie High School until her retirement about 2005.
Jerry was an avid collector of antiques, especially primitives. Her dream was to own a two story vintage home in which to live and properly display her antiques. She finally realized this dream when she bought her home in Idaho Falls at 126 12th Street.
Surviving are her step-father, Cyril F. Goodell of Pocatello, her sister-in-law, Vicki McCloskey of Henniker, New Hampshire, and a niece. She was preceded in death by her parents and her brother, Randy Grimm.
Jerry did some volunteer teaching at Kinport Academy at Pocatello. After moving to Idaho Falls, she became an Assistant Ombudsman. She was very outgoing and, at the same time, a very private person. She loved the outdoors, sunshine and travel. She and Vicki traveled both at home and in Europe, staying at historic old inns and hotels when possible. They also hiked many trails together, including the "Haute Route" across the Swiss Alps from Mt Blanc to Zermatt.
Family and friends will gather informally to remember Jerry and bury her ashes at Mountain View Cemetery section 20 East, Pocatello Monday, April 24, at 3:00 pm; then gather at a local restaurant to dine and reminisce.