Geraldine Joyce Mezzocchi Dobrasz

Born at home in Boston, Massachusetts on October 5, 1940 to Alfred and Anna (Marinelli) Mezzocchi, Gerry graduated from St Elizabeth’s Hospital School of Nursing in 1961. She worked in Boston briefly but then, encouraged by her Aunt Ronnie Iaderosa’s husband, Andy, she joined the US Air Force Nurse Corps two years later in 1963 and began, for the first time in her life, to really travel and came to love it.

While stationed in San Antonio, Texas, one evening she took a seat at the piano bar in the Officers’ Club, only to have a handsome fellow officer inform her that she had taken “his seat.” She replied, “I didn’t see your name on it.” Two years later, Gerry and John Dobrasz, Sr., were married in Boston (April 24, 1965).

After a brief stint in Italy, they were stationed shortly thereafter in Misawa, Japan, where having become pregnant with their first son, John Dobrasz, Jr, she left the Air Force as a captain. They moved to Crofton, MD, where they were blessed with a daughter, Karen Marie Dobrasz, and another son, Gregory Thomas Dobrasz. When their youngest was only 2 years old, they were transferred to West Berlin.

After Berlin, there was short posting again to Maryland, but John’s final posting was in 1980 to Tampa, Florida (MacDill Air Force Base). There, once her children were in school, Gerry returned to nursing, and John retired from the Air Force. Gerry worked her way up into management and in 1988, John followed Gerry, for a change, when she was recruited to run VASI, the outpatient surgery center for the University of Virginia. They spent 17 years in Charlottesville, Virginia and Gerry’s work there was very much a labor of love, as her passion for both business and nursing was tremendous.

When their first grandchild, Oscar, (along with his parents, Greg Dobrasz and Joy Taylor) moved to Atlanta (where their first son was working, as well), it didn’t take much to convince Gerry and John to join them in the South. Along with their daughter, Karen, they moved to Atlanta, GA in 2005. Their second and third grandchildren, Oliver and Everett Dobrasz, were born in Atlanta to their first son, John Dobrasz, and Gina (McDowell) Dobrasz.

After almost 50 years of marriage, John Dobrasz, Sr. passed away on October 20, 2014 in their home, with Gerry caring for him until the moment of his death.

Gerry was deeply interested in genealogy, and explored that passion during her travels, visiting churches and community record centers to research her family’s history. She also enjoyed knitting, crafting scarves, hats, and mittens treasured by her family and friends. A terrific cook and baker, she was always happy to whip up something to feed those she loved.

Gerry was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 49 and a half years, John; her parents, Alfred and Anna Mezzocchi; her sister, Marianne Mezzocchi Power; and her brother, Michael Mezzocchi. She is survived by her 2 sons, John and Greg, and her daughter, Karen, as well as her three grandsons.

Visitation will be held Wednesday, January 28th, 2026, at 6PM at H.M. Patterson & Son – Oglethorpe Hill Chapel, 4550 Peachtree Road NE, Atlanta, GA 30319. Interment will be at the Georgia National Cemetery, 1080 Scott Hudgens Dr, Canton, GA 30114, where military honors will be conducted graveside.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Gerry’s memory may be directed to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital (https://www.stjude.org/donate/) or to Hamilton College (https://www.hamilton.edu/makeagift).

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