David J. Hjerpe

David Jon Hjerpe, devoted son, husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle, died unexpectedly but peacefully at his home in Dighton, Massachusetts on December 4, 2025, 88 years old. He was born in Quincy, MA to the late Harry Gustav Hjerpe and Frances Helen Bird Hjerpe on April 19, 1937.

From March of 1941, David was raised in Melrose, MA and graduated from Melrose High School in 1954, after which he attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, earning his Mechanical Engineering degree in 1958. Since then and until 1997, David was employed by Texas Instruments in Attleboro, MA, with time off for one year’s full-time military service with the US Coast Guard. By 1963, he had built a house in Dighton, MA, which he would call “home” for the rest of his life. During the 1960’s he attended classes at the University of Rhode Island, eventually earning his MBA. Not to ignore his love of flying, David owned, and flew on weekends, two 4-seat Piper airplanes, a Tri-Pacer and then a Cherokee, from 1965 to 1978. David divided his 3 decades of retirement among the comfort of his Massachusetts home, caring for the family property in Owls Head, Maine, which he and many of his grandmother’s descendants have enjoyed since 1939, and traveling several times to Sweden.

David leaves behind his bride of 66 years, Vera (Edgren) Hjerpe; son and daughter-in-law, Erik Hjerpe and Shefali Sanyal of Berlin, MA, with their children, Nickels and Margaret Vera; son and daughter-in-law, Karl and Teresa Hjerpe of Chicago, IL, with their son, Ian; sister Patricia Stephen of Owls Head, ME; sister Nancy Greenwood of Peabody, MA; cousin Lee Olsen and wife Mary of Newport Beach, CA; as well thirteen nieces and nephews. David was predeceased by his parents, his sister Dianne Schueler, and five cousins.

Visitation will be held on Sunday, February 1, 2026, from 4:00 PM to 7:00 PM at the Gately Funeral Home, 79 West Foster Street, Melrose, MA, followed by a dinner at the Rising Eagle Publick House, 505 Main Street, Melrose.