Visitation will be held Tuesday, February 15, 2022 from 4-7pm at Runge Mortuary in Davenport, Iowa. Masonic services will follow at 7pm Tuesday. Funeral services will be held 10:00am Wednesday, February 16, 2022 at the Mortuary. Burial will immediately follow at Davenport Memorial Park Cemetery. COVID protocol is requested by the family.
Jerry was born to Thomas J. and Frances Jean (Shoemate) Geoghegan July 24, 1942, in St. Louis, Missouri. He was a member of the last graduating class from Davenport High School in 1960. He served in the Army Reserve. Jerry retired from ALCOA as a Unit Supervisor in 1992 after 30 years.
He married Lorraine Kuehl Swanson on June 24, 1974, at Chapel of the Bells in Las Vegas, Nevada.
He maintained memberships for over 50 years in the Hamilton Masonic Lodge No. 664, IBEW No. 1379, and the German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America.
He loved to field trial his German Wirehaired Pointer dogs across the Midwest and show them in specialty dog shows. In 1968 his champion, Haar Baron’s Rettina (Tina), won Best of Breed at the International Kennel Club Show in Chicago.
He was an avid hunter his entire life menacing turkey, upland birds, waterfowl, and especially, deer throughout his adult life. With his bow and arrow, he harvested the 13th-largest buck ever recorded in the State of Iowa in 1974.
Jerry’s family operated a Christmas Tree Farm near Wildcat Den State Park. He received numerous awards for conservation including the Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Farmer of the Year in 1987 and several awards from the Muscatine County Soil and Water Conservation District including the Good Year Conservation Award in 1981, Owner/Operator and Overall District Winner in 1990, and the Woodland Owner of the Year in 1993.
He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Lorraine, his son Channing (Michelle) Swanson, Sloane (granddaughter) and Cole (grandson) Swanson, of Des Moines, Iowa.
He was preceded in death by his parents, stepfather John T. Rank, and stepsister Janis Rank Shadden.
Memorials may be made in his memory to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research online at www.michaeljfox.org/donate/make-donation-tribute, or at the following address: Donation Processing, The Michael J. Fox Foundation , P.O. Box 5014, Hagerstown, MD 21741-5014. Online condolence may be shared at www.rungemortuary.com.
