Jerry Smith was born Sept. 6, 1937 to Louis B. and Hazel Smith in Rexburg, Idaho and passed away on March 29, 2026 in Corvallis. Jerry was the second of three children of Louis and Hazel with brothers Branson born in 1936 and Dell born in 1939. In 1938 the family moved to Burns, where Louis Smith was employed by the Harney County Road Department.  

In 1940 Louis was severely injured in an industrial accident while working for the County and was paralyzed from the waist down and spent many years in and out of hospitals in Burns, Eugene and Portland. This was a time prior to many of the support services that now exist so a community of friends and neighbors in Harney County pitched in to support the family as they moved onto a small ranch on Ryegrass Lane owned by the Culp family. (Patty Culp-McDonald continues to live on this plot of land.)  The values of hard work and giving that Jerry learned in these early days of life in Harney County served him well all during his productive life.

Jerry attended elementary and secondary school in Burns and was a member of the BUHS class of 1955. Jerry was an adventuresome soul and so he decided that he would spend his senior year of high school in the U.S. Air Force and was trained as a medic. This senior year turned into a seven-and-a-half year enlistment that saw Jerry stationed at Wheelus Air Force Base in Tripoli Lybia, north Africa for two-and-a-half years. His adventures continued as during this time he toured much of north Africa, Europe and Great Britain.  

In 1963 Jerry received an Honorable Discharge from the U.S. Air Force and continued his adventures in a variety of vocations.  He discovered that he was not interested in medical related vocations so he tried working on the construction of large dams in northern California. Finding out that he had an allergy to cement he then moved back to Burns where he was employed by Edward Hines Lumber Company. Holding several positions in the Hines mill, Jerry learned much about the operation of mills in general.  

Eventually after several moves Jerry accepted a position with Hampton Lumber Company in Willamina, Ore., where John Hampton was laudatory regarding Jerry’s skills. Jerry’s move to Willamina was a fortuitous move as this is where in 1984 he met his future wife Sharon and her daughter Sarah. A meeting that would change his life in so many positive ways.  In 1985 Jerry and Sharon were married and the two of them began a life of shared adventures. Together their jobs and interests took them to California, back to Burns, to the state of New York, Vermont, then the state of Washington and finally back to Oregon.

After working at a mill in Toledo, Ore. for several years Jerry and Sharon moved to Corvallis where Jerry drove school bus for children with special needs. His bus was filled with classical music and children seemed to be drawn to this very large man with tattoos on his very large arms. Jerry possessed a special charisma that drew people from all walks of life and all ages to him.  His bus driving skills also had him driving young people from the Willamette Valley down to Mexico to work on service projects.

Together, Jerry and Sharon made strong commitments to the communities in which they lived and they were generous with their time, energy and sharing whatever they could to various individuals and groups that expressed needs. In one example of their generosity Jerry and Sharon will be recognized by the organization Family Tree Relief Nursery in Albany, Ore. This is an organization that “…partners with families to keep children safe and build stable families”.  Jerry and Sharon helped make their communities better places to live for everyone.

In the past couple of decades Jerry and Sharon became active members of the Orthodox Church with strong commitments to St. Anne Orthodox Church in Corvallis.  These commitments  were reciprocated over the years by members of the Church and were especially appreciated during the final stages of Jerry’s life.  

Jerry lived a life full of adventures and he influenced the lives of many people around the world. His legacy will live on in those individuals with whom he touched.  

Jerry is survived by his wife, Sharon; his step-daughter, Sarah; his brother, Dell and his wife, Helen and children, Theresa (Rick) and Blake, and too many cousins and in-laws to mention.