Jerry Don Magness

Jerry was born in Temple, Oklahoma on October 17, 1942. His family moved to Colton, California in 1951. He attended Alice Burney Elementary School, Colton Jr. High and graduated from Colton High School in 1961. He played in Colton Lions Little League and in 1954 their team represented the Western Region in the Little League World Series, in Williamsport, PA. They finished second in the country.

After graduating high school he went on to Valley College. His first love was baseball and he was rewarded for his great pitching with the league MVP award both years at Valley. He signed with the Minnesota Twins in 1964 and used his huge bonus to buy a 1963 Ford Galaxie. Jerry played in the Twins minor leagues for seven years and made many lifelong friends.

In 1966 he married the” little Vaughan girl”, Karen. They were blessed with two adorable daughters, Leslye in 1973 and Kristin in 1976. After his baseball career, Jerry received his teaching degree from Cal Poly Pomona and his Masters in Education from Azusa Pacific. He coached baseball at Eisenhower for five years, Valley College for 2 years, Cal State San Bernardino for five years and then went on to coach at Chaffey College for 13 years. During the same period he coached softball for his daughters for 16 years. He was happiest when he was coaching kids.

As the years went by he became a grandfather to four wonderful kids, Andrew, Jordan, Ian and Morgan (Max). Jerry loved being “Papa” and took pride in every one of the grandchildren’s accomplishments. He was a loving, involved grandfather.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Karen, his daughters, Leslye and Kristin, his grandchildren, Andrew, Jordan, Ian and Morgan. He is also survived by his sister, Wanda and many other loving family members as well as many friends. . He also leaves behind his beloved cats, Tuffy and Maya, Deeters and his dear friend, Lue, the dog.

The family requests in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Leukemia Foundation.