Jerry Lilly

Jerry Glen Lilly, age 76, passed away unexpectedly while playing tennis on the morning of October 13, 2026. His family has deeply felt the loss of such a central and important figure in their lives. He was incredible at taking care of people and being a reliable and steady source of support, stability and joy for those who knew and loved him.

Jerry was born in a hospital in Brewster, Washington on August 16, 1950. He was the firstborn child of Maxine Fern Crouse and Glen Arthur Lilly. He was told they lived in a tiny house on the Eastern Washington prairie outside of Bridgeport, WA when he was a baby before moving to Kirkland. His brother Ted was born in 1952, a year after his father purchased a 30 acre dairy farm in Buckley, Washington. While residing in Buckley, his brother Patrick (1956) and sister, Melissa (1960) were both born in Enumclaw. After Jerry finished 5th grade, their family moved from Buckley to a 100 acre dairy farm that bordered the Chehalis River near Curtis, Washington,

a small rural community 10 miles west of Chehalis, WA. The farm house was the first school house in the County and now on the Historical register, which his father, Glen renovated into a 5

bedroom, 2 story home with a drive through Porte-Cochere with white columns in front and a large weeping willow and two cherry trees in the front yard. They had 40 dairy cows that they milked twice a day in a concrete milking parlor his father had built.

Jerry was in class at Boistfort Middle school when John Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Kennedy was his favorite President. There were only 10 kids in his class so he participated in football and basketball. He recalls his football team being pretty bad, but felt better about basketball. He started playing the guitar in middle school too. At that time he mostly played music from the Kingston Trio, a popular folk group at the time. He was an incredibly talented musician with perfect pitch. Middle school was when he formed his first cover band called the Troubadours. They had no concerts, but performed for themselves in public parks and even traveled all the way to Tijuana Mexico in his friend Steve’s family station wagon. On their return they hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. Jerry loved to travel. He always dreamed of adventures and exploring.

For High School, his mother insisted he attend a larger High School in Chehalis so that he wouldn’t be destined to become a logger or a dairy farmer when he grew up. He did not play sports in High School, but he did sing in the high school choir. He was also in the high school musical, “Little Mary Sunshine”. He was very smart and got excellent grades in high school, graduating 2nd in his class of 200 as Salutatorian. His summer jobs were working as a life guard

at the Chehalis Community Pool and teaching swim lessons. After graduating high school his parents bought him a new Martin D-28 acoustic guitar for a graduation gift. It cost $600 at the time which was more than he paid for his first car two years later.

For college he applied to University of Washington, Stanford University and Whitman college.

His family had no money for college, so he needed a scholarship. He was accepted at Whitman college with a full 4 year scholarship, so that is where he ended up going. He started out as a music major, and despite his raw talent, without having had piano lessons could not sight read music at the time. He dropped his music major as a result, but sang in the Whitman Choir all 4 years. He was involved in many things at Whitman college, made many dear lifelong friends and wonderful memories. His best friend Larry was a few years older than him, incredible at the

guitar and helped Jerry become a better musician. They performed a lot locally in Walla Walla and he deeply enjoyed sharing his music. He married his first wife, Carol Hanford, while there and then finished at Whitman with a degree in mathematics. They then moved to Pennsylvania where Jerry attended Penn State and studied acoustical engineering; an ideal career path for a gifted mathematician and musician. After graduation they moved to Southern California where he got a job as an acoustical consultant in Santa Monica. The cost of living was too high, so two years later they moved to Issaquah and Jerry started working for the University of Washington in their applied physics lab. That was when their first child Christopher Glen was born, in 1979. They then built a home in Bellevue and that is where his daughters, Jannah Nichole (1981) and a few years later Jamie Elizabeth (1985), were born. Between his daughters’ births, in 1983, he started his own Acoustical Consulting Business, known as JGL Acoustics. Jerry would play his guitar in their family home often and played lullabies like Puff the Magic Dragon to help his children fall asleep.

Jerry and Carol were divorced in 1989. Shortly after in April of 1990, Jerry’s mother Maxine passed away from cancer. His mother was an avid tennis player her whole life. Jerry was not interested in tennis when she was alive, but after her passing he decided to take up tennis in her honor. He joined a health club with tennis courts, took private lessons and joined the USTA where he participated in league competitions and tournaments. As a result, he enjoyed tennis most of his adult life.

Jerry was single for about 5 years before meeting his cherished Loretta. They were married at Snoqualmie Falls on March 1, 1997. They frequently enjoyed scuba diving trips, travel, snow skiing and water skiing together. They bought a ski boat together and owned that for about 25 years. After designing and building their dream home together, they were blessed to welcome twin daughters to their family, Jessica Diane and Julia Grace in October of 1999. They grew up enjoying ski, bike, and Hawaii trips along with Washington and Sammamish Lake boat rides with their parents. Jerry loved his children and wife dearly and wanted the very best the world had to offer them.

In 2016, Jerry’s father Glen passed away near his home in Hilo Hawaii. Jerry wrote a poem in his honor that was read at his funeral. Another of his many talents.

Jerry was very successful and incredible in his field of work. He was well respected in the Acoustical Engineering community. He was elected President of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants from 1996-1998. He was also hired to design the noise control for Microsoft’s new anechoic chamber in Redmond which then claimed the title of the quietest place on earth according to the 2017 Guinness Book of World Records! In 2023 Jerry received the

Laymon N. Miller Award from the President of the National Council of Acoustical Consultants due to his significant scientific, education and innovation contributions during his 48 year consulting career.

Once Jerry turned 70 people were asking him more about when he would finally retire, but he didn’t have much desire to do so. He played tennis 3 times a week, stayed active in several professional societies, conducted new research in vibration isolation and had many things he could still do for his clients even though his ways of doing so were becoming antiquated. He was diagnosed with Interstitial Lung Disease in June 2017 which he battled with grace. His

family grew accustomed to his coughing attacks and had lozenges on hand for him. He loved playing the piano also and found any occasion to play “Mamma’s Secret” on the piano from his most recent favorite movie, Wonka. He could easily learn songs by ear. His tradition of calling his family on their birthdays and singing to them will be sorely missed in the coming years.

He had a history of favorite things and movies, and spent a good deal of his adulthood personifying Indiana Jones, whose theme music accompanied their water skiing adventures among other things. There is a poster of Indiana Jones hung in their living room with a real leather whip hung about the edge, and the famous now-framed Wheaties box with Jerry personified as Indiana Jones on the cereal box cover. He is known for his love of the Mariners, his trusty Jeeps, barbecuing, waterfalls, talented lawn mowing and love of tropical birds, especially toucans. He is also remembered for random exclamations like “barnacles!” Or repeating “How ‘bout them Mariners” to change an awkward subject. He was and always will be a dearly beloved treasure to his family.

He is survived by his wife Loretta Lilly, His children, Christopher Lilly, Jannah Lilly Haines, Jamie Lilly, Julia Lilly and Jessica Lilly. He is also survived by his siblings, Ted Lilly, Patrick Lilly and Melissa Locke.

A celebration of his wonderful life will be held at Sunset Hills Memorial Park on Sunday, November 1, 2026 at 11:00am. We invite all who knew and loved Jerry to attend and celebrate his life with us.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you make donations to Best Buddies Washington, a very important organization to Jerry and his family. Upon making your donation, please enter “Jerry Lilly” on the In Honor/Support Of section.

https://www.bestbuddies.org/washington/donate