Gerald Dean Townsend

On Thursday, August 22, 2013, the world and a very tight knit family lost Gerald Dean Townsend, who passed away in his sleep at St Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee. Gerald, or Jerry, as his friends called him, came into this life on August 29, 1926 with one strike against him. You see, his given name was recorded as Geralddean and this wouldn't be corrected for quite a number of years. This didn't seem all that odd considering the creativity that his mother and father had shown in the naming of four of his five siblings, minus their youngest son, who they named Billy (not William, no middle name).

Up until shortly after Gerald's birth, the family called Kentucky home and that birthright was a contention of pride that would remain close to his heart throughout his life. The family transplanted to northern Wisconsin looking for an escape from the poverty of their home state thanks to stories of a better life relayed south by others who had made the trek before them. What they found there was more poverty and much deeper snow. He often said that the one saving grace was the fact that everyone else was so poor, he never realized how desperate his family's plight really was. They tried farming, but weren't lucky enough to produce a sustainable living. His father ventured into heavy equipment and put his three boys to work, at least through the months that were warm enough for such work and then scrambled to survive the rest of the year.

On January 17th, 1948, Gerald married the cute little girl from the next farm over. Her name was Cecelia Betty Lois (Betty to friends). Gerald had always been the skinny, sickly kid with the girly name and a chip on his shoulder, but with a strong work ethic and a sense of determination, he set out to prove himself against any of his shortcomings or what he saw as perceived slights. The hand -to- mouth existence was an obvious detriment to what he and Betty hoped would be a growing family, so with a rickety car and an eighth grade education (which would be a sore spot for him throughout his life) they headed to Winthrop Harbor, Illinois.

He found work at Nash in Kenosha, then Johnson Outboards in Waukegan, where he relucantly accepted a number of promotions due to his "cornpone" ability to repair and improve machinery. His last position there involved flying around the country evaluating other die cast plants for the company. He had several inventions that were not only incorporated by Johnson Outboards, but by the rest of the industry.

He retired after 30 years of service, but he found himself being recruited by other companies, which brought him a well-deserved sense of pride. He took a couple of these jobs with the final one being at Woodstock Die Cast, where he was given the title of Process Engineer. He wasn't a man that cared a lot about titles, but this one came with what he saw as both a blessing and a curse. He always took a lot of pride in his work and he loved this position, but the stigma of his educational level made it very hard for him to call himself an "Engineer". He accepted it until he had a cerebral hemmorhage at the age of 60 years, ending his dream of one day working for Harley-Davidson.

He and Betty then moved to Sun City, Arizona. After ten wonderful sun-soaked years, Betty succumbed to cancer. He remained there eight more years until recently moving back to Oak Creek to be closer to family.

He is survived by his son: Gary of Sun City; daughter: Pam (Paul) Ruffino of Oak Creek; four grandkids: Jeff Townsend and Peter Townsend of Kenosha, Patrick (Kathryn) Ruffino of Racine, Julie Ruffino of Milwaukee and three great-grandchildren: Constance, Nathan and Christopher. His family goes well beyond the few named here.

He taught us all about pride, determination and love and he will be missed.

Visitation Tuesday, August 27th from 2:00-4:00PM at the funeral home with Funeral Service 4:00PM.