Gerald Francis Pomeroy

Gerald was born December 25, 1921 to George and Stella Pomeroy in York, Nebraska, and spent his early years on a farm in Bradshaw. He moved to Washington State in 1939 where he worked at Boeing during the war. He rented a small cabin and lived next door to Agnes Malmin, who also worked at Boeing. Gary and Agnes were married on January 28, 1944. They lived in the Foster and Renton area until 1989, at which time they moved to Olympia.

Gary was a builder. He built his first house in upper Foster for his expanding family while still working at Boeing. During his long career, he built 67 houses, one at a time, primarily in the Renton area, including Skyway; Lakeridge; Somerset; The Summit; and Cedar Downs. In the early years, he drew his own house plans, as well as doing most of the actual work himself. He had a strong work ethic and was a skilled carpenter who believed in doing quality work. He shared his knowledge with his daughters and grandchildren, and taught them his values.

After he retired from building houses, he enjoyed puttering in his workshop where he built numerous items such as rocking horses, tables, high chairs, bedroom furniture, and puzzles. Many of these items were for his grandchildren or great grandchildren. A man of faith, he did volunteer work in Nome and Unalakleet, Alaska, for the Covenant Church, making five different trips to build a community center and a radio tower.

Gerald was also a gardener, no doubt influenced by his father who farmed and his mother who gardened. He grew an abundance of vegetables and fruits, often canned by Agnes. He enjoyed tending his park-like yard, which was full of flowers and trees. He also liked to fish, bird watch, go on Sunday drives, camp, picnic, and visit parks and fish hatcheries.

He lived on faith that his latest house would sell and was frugal by nature. He expected his daughters to contribute, and taught them skills at carpentry and gardening. They learned to sand, stain, lay vinyl, and sweep up lots of carpenter dust. They learned to weed and trim and prune, because having a nice yard was important. And while growing up, if one of his daughters asked to use the car or go to a movie, the likely response was, “Is that really necessary?”. If being brave, we might answer, “Yes.” But that didn’t mean he would agree.

Intelligent and perceptive, he was interested in what was going on around him. In the early years he was serious and concentrated on his work and earning money to care for his family. But in later years, his wit and humor came to the forefront. He enjoyed socializing and playing games with friends, figuring out puzzles, and watching travelogues.

He was a member of Littlerock Community Fellowship church in Littlerock. He recently said that his biggest disappointment was not being able to help build the new church that was recently completed.

He is survived by Agnes, his wife of 68 years; five daughters and sons-in-law: Shirley Lindberg (Don), Patricia Cramer (Steve), Kay Baxstrom (Gene), Marcia Weaver (John), and Lois Knowles (Mark); ten grandchildren; nine great grandchildren; his sister Velma Stewart of Torrington, Wyoming; sister-in-law Fern Pomeroy of Renton, Washington; and multiple nieces and nephews as well as friends.

A chapel service will be held at Greenwood Memorial Park, 350 Monroe Ave NE, Renton, WA 98056 on Thursday, December 6 at 2:00 pm. Viewing will be available preceding the service from noon until 1:30. Remembrances can be left at http://m.dignitymemorial.com/location/0290.

Donations in his memory can be made to Littlerock Community Fellowship Building Fund at Littlerock Community Church, P.O. Box 221, Littlerock, WA 98556, or to the charity of your choice.