Gerald “Jerry” Lee Boe, age 89, of Sioux Falls

Posted

SIOUX FALLS — Gerald “Jerry” Lee Boe, age 89, of Sioux Falls, formerly of Wolsey, passed away at the Dougherty Hospice House surrounded by loved ones on Thursday, November 11, 2021.
A family-directed Celebration of Life will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls, with family present from 6 to 7 p.m.
A family-directed Memorial Service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday at American Lutheran Church in Huron, with family present from 10 to 11 a.m., and inurnment with military honors at Restlawn Memory Gardens immediately following the service. For everyone’s safety the family requests that masks be brought and worn.
Gerald or “Jerry” as he was known to friends and family was born on March 30, 1932, he was the second to the youngest of five sons born to Olaf and Palma (Pederson) Boe in rural Wessington Springs. He attended Pederson School, a one room schoolhouse in Kellogg Township named after his family. When the family moved to a farm north of Wolsey he attended and graduated from Wolsey High School. He was one of the last remaining members of the Wolsey High School class of 1950. Never one to let dust settle below his feet, Jerry was active in football, basketball, clubs, and baseball, he enjoyed sharing that he pitched a perfect Legion Baseball game 27 batters up and 27 batters down.
After high school Jerry served overseas in Korea and when he returned, he went to work for the USPS as a rural mail carrier driving over 100 miles each day, 6 days a week, delivering mail to the Wolsey area, through rain, sleet, snow, hail, and sunshine for over 30 years. After returning from Korea Jerry married the love of his life and high school sweetheart Darlene Guthmiller on March 25, 1956. To this union three children were born, a daughter, Susan and sons, Greg and Daryl.
As a lifelong carpenter, after his mail route, Jerry and several friends would remodel and build houses for people in Wolsey, building his own house for the family on the edge of town in 1968. Jerry was also a lifelong Wolsey volunteer fire fighter, member of the Wolsey Lions and Legion Clubs, he helped run the chains for the Wolsey Cardinals for 30 years, he drove gas transport for Dan Dugan and also farmed south of Wolsey for many decades, and we still chuckle at the stories he would tell about driving school bus for Wolsey for many years. Jerry retired from the USPS in 1990 after 30 years of service, he was a faithful member and served on several boards at American Lutheran Church in Huron. In 2010, Jerry and Darlene moved to Sioux Falls to be closer to family where they became members of Our Saviors Lutheran Church. They loved to travel visiting almost all the 50 states, camping, and would winter in South Carolina while their health allowed them too.
Left to cherish his memory are his wife of 65 years, Darlene; children, Susan (Bob) Waagmeester of Sioux Falls, Greg (Debbie) Boe of Chanhassen Minn., Daryl (Linda) Boe of Greenville S.C.; six grandchildren, Robert (Liz) Waagmeester of Sioux Falls, Greg Jr. (Meghan) Boe of Excelsior, Minn., and Jenna Boe of Chanhassen, Minn., Devon (Jason) Senges of Greensboro, N.C., Allie Johnson of Greenwood, S.C., and Sydney Boe of Greenville, S.C.; four great-grandchildren, Braydon and Myles Waagmeester, Alice Boe, and Louisa Senges; one brother, Don of Brookings; and one sister-in-law, Bonnie Guthmiller of Huron; and several nieces and nephews.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Olaf and Palma Boe; brothers, Rollin, Marvin, and infant brother, Irvin Boe; father and mother-in-law, Fred and Marie (Koerner) Guthmiller; sisters-in-law, Ruth, Audrey and Janice Boe; and brothers and sister-in-law, Arnold and Delores Guthmiller and Elvin Guthmiller; and nephew, James Boe and niece Sandy Johnson.