Obituary Liberia RPCV Gerald E. "Jerry" Axtell
Gerald E. "Jerry" Axtell
GERALD "JERRY" E. AXTELL Jerry Axtell, a long-time, educator, traveler and documentary filmmaker, passed away at home in Oakland on Sunday, January 4 after a valiant six-month battle against a brain tumor. He was 58. He was the beloved husband and friend to Ginny Axtell, son of Margaret Jean Gilbert, Vallejo; CA.; brother of Leslie Gilbert, Bellingham, Wash., and Joan Gilbert, Tehachapi, CA.; as well as uncle to Armando and Reuban Ramirez, of Tehachapi, Calif. Jerry was most recently a special education teacher at Pinole Valley High School. An instructional media major at San Francisco State University, Jerry worked in the audio-visual industry until he turned to teaching in the mid 1990s. He was writing a novel based on his experiences in the 1970s as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer teacher in Liberia, West Africa. After Peace Corps service, Jerry and Ginny continued to travel extensively and had visited countries as diverse as Mexico, England, Ireland, Haiti, Africa and Thailand, as well as many places throughout the U.S. Born in Traverse City, Michigan, Jerry grew up in San Bernardino California and attended high school in Southern California. A memorial service is scheduled at 1 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 13 at the chapel at Mountain View Cemetery, 5000 Piedmont Ave., Oakland, followed by a private scattering of his ashes. Arrangements are by the Neptune Society of Northern California. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Northern California Peace Corps Association, P.O. Box 2547, San Francisco, CA 94126.
Published in the Oakland Tribune on 1/9/2004.
