February 1, 1955 – November 10, 2010
On February 1, 1955, JoAnn & Leon O’Dell received their first precious bundle of joy. Little did they know that this little bundle would grow up to be the amazing man we all know as “Jerry”. He was the easy-going, kind-hearted, and selfless big brother, cousin, friend, husband, and father that anyone would be proud of. Being the oldest child, Jerry grew up being the protector of his three younger siblings, Linda, Mike and Jodie, as well as all his cousins. Because of this, he was someone that could always be depended on, no matter what.
He grew up in La Puente, California. He was a master at building Model Cars. So good, that he won several prizes and trophies for his skills. One time he won a Sting Ray bicycle! Jerry’s grandparents lived on Treasure Island in Laguna Beach, where he spent many summers enjoying their private beach with his family. He would always watch out for the younger ones and made sure that they were safe. Mostly he watched from the ocean as he loved to body surf, something he never grew too old to do.
Most of Jerry’s cousins lived in Northern California and they traveled back and forth several times. However, Jerry had the family record for the fastest time at 5 hours. (That was before Interstate 5 went all the way through!) No one will forget the time Jerry decided to make the trip on his own without his parent’s consent. He went to see his cousin, Jack, and when he got there Jack was ill; so he turned around and drove back home. Needless to say, his parents were frantic and to this day, his mom still can’t laugh at it.
While still in high school, at Don Bosco, Jerry became a hard worker and an entrepreneur. His favorite subject in high school was Automotive and Mechanics, which explains why Jerry could always fix just about anything. If he couldn’t fix it, he could at least “Jerry-Rig” it (a term his children thought was named just for him). He started working with his dad, laying brick, at 14. He also had his own business, for real estate companies, where he would do repairs and clean-up. Jerry even started a concert promotions business called “Cheapskate Productions” with his friend Bob. They promoted a benefit concert for a friend that had been in a motorcycle accident.
Jerry was very independent and adventurous, a man with many skills. In his adult life he worked at a mill in Oregon, on an oil rig off the California coast, built a house in Oroville, did brick work on the Ronald Regan Library & LA Times building, and installed waste oil tanks in Texas. In 1995 he got his General Contractors license and began working with his best friend and cousin-in-law, Brent. Together they did several re-models as well as new construction projects. They were quite the team and Jerry loved working with Brent.
In 1989 Jerry was manipulated into calling a girl for a date. He had played in a golf tournament with these two ladies, Audrey and Vangie. Vangie had a daughter that was single and close to his age. She knew from the start that this man would be quite the catch and a perfect match for her daughter, Janet. On July 21, 1990 Janet and Jerry were married and Jerry had an instant family. Janet had two daughters, Angela & Jessica, and they were 16 and 6 years old. On May 23, 1991, Janet and Jerry had a son and named him Kevin.
A few years later they moved to Northern California so that Jerry and Brent could work together. They lived there for eight years and purchased two homes. One for a rental and the other was their home.
In December, 1999, Jerry started having problems breathing. As it turned out, his aortic heart valve was leaking and pumping blood into his lungs. On February 14, 2000, (Yes, Valentines Day!) he had open heart surgery and had his faulty heart valve replaced with a titanium valve. His entire family came to the Bay Area to be there with him. Including his nephew, Christopher, that drove himself up just for the day to make sure his uncle was okay.
In April of 2001, Jerry and his family decided it would be a good idea to move back to Southern California to be closer to their parents and siblings. It was a good time because Jessica had graduated from High School and Kevin was still in elementary school. Jerry worked long and hard to remodel their home in order to get a good price on it. At the same time he worked on his Aunt Irene’s kitchen. Both projects were amazingly beautiful. He made quite a profit on their home. The rental house became vacant and their daughter, Angela, decided that she and her husband, Kevin, would like to purchase it. Kevin, Jerry, Brent and Ben went to work and made a beautiful home out of the run down rental.
Things were going quite well for Jerry and his family. They purchased a very nice home in Upland, close to Janet’s dad and Jerry’s mom. They also purchased two rental homes; one in Silver Lakes, close to Janet’s mom, and one in Lake Havasu, close to Jerry’s dad & stepmom. Jerry was able to work with Janet’s cousin’s husband, Terry, refurbishing a couple homes and also picked up some extra work on his own. One of his projects was working on his brother, Mike’s, kitchen. He and Mike also worked great together and Jerry was extremely happy.
They had a comfortable life and were able to go to Hawaii a few times. Jerry still LOVED the ocean and body surfing. It was if he was transformed back to the boy that lived in the ocean at Laguna Beach. Their last trip to Hawaii was on a cruise with Jessica, Kevin, Mom Jody and their niece, Sara. It was great time for all of them. Except for the time that Jerry took Kevin and Sara to body surf in Maui. Jerry got caught in a rip tide and was carried pretty far out. He didn’t panic, but Kevin was going nuts watching his dad get carried out to sea. Thankfully, a life guard noticed and rescued Jerry.
Unfortunately, the economy took a turn for the worst. Jerry and Janet decided to remodel their Upland home and move to the high desert in order to “down size”. He once again, did an amazing job. However, they were not able to sell the house and ended up renting it out. Jerry was able to pick up small jobs and they were able to make ends meet. In summer of 2008 he and Mike got a huge remodel job in Monrovia. They added on to a home and made it twice its size. The project was quite a long process and Jerry was finding that his strength and stamina wasn’t what it used to be. At first he assumed that it was his age and the fact that his diabetes was beginning take its toll on his body.
In January, 2009, he was having such a hard time catching his breath that he finally decided to see the doctor about it. He was feeling the same way that he did just before he had his heart surgery. Therefore, the doctors were running all kinds of tests on his heart. However, everything was coming back clear for his heart. In March they took an x-ray that was “inconclusive” and scheduled another for a month later. From the results of the 2nd x-ray, they decided to order a CT scan. On May 6th Kevin took Jerry to emergency because he was unable to keep his food down. The doctor told Jerry, Janet and Kevin the results of the CT scan and why Jerry was having a hard time keeping his food down…. He had a large mass outside his left lung and a cluster of lymph nodes at the base of his esophagus that was highly suspicious of cancer. It was, to say the least, devastating news. Within a month the cancer was confirmed. Jerry received aggressive chemotherapy and radiation simultaneously for 6 weeks in June & July.
Because of the distance between the high desert and Fontana, where Jerry was to have his chemo and radiation, they decided to move back down to Upland. Fortunately, they were able to move into Janet’s dad’s home. Her dad had been hospitalized with a dissected aorta in April and remained there until he lost his heroic battle to survive in July.
Thankfully, the chemotherapy was not too hard on Jerry. The only hair loss he had was on his head and he didn’t even lose all of that. He never even got nauseous. However, the radiation took quite a toll on his throat. By the last week it was impossible for him to swallow anything besides liquids and he became dehydrated. However, within a few weeks his throat got better and he fully re-gained his appetite.
In September, he felt well enough to take a trip with Janet and Kevin to Northern California then on to see Angela, who had moved to Oregon. They had planned to take a week to get back home and take the coastal route with a second stop in the Bay Area. Unfortunately, a family friend passed away and they had to get back for the funeral.
A few days later, Jerry ended up in the hospital with pneumonia. The pneumonia was treated and he only stayed in the hospital two days. Jerry’s shortness of breath got a little better but never really went away. As time went on he found that it seemed to be gradually getting worse. The holidays came and most everyone wondered if this would be the last Christmas with Jerry. In March Jerry and Janet decided to try to take another trip to the Bay Area, Fort Bragg, Oregon, and back to the Bay Area. On the 2nd to last day in Oregon, Jerry began feeling ill and feverish. He didn’t want to go to the hospital and get stuck in Oregon so the next day he and Janet drove strait home. They left Oregon at 1 pm and arrived at home at 4 am. They slept for a few hours then went to emergency. Jerry had pneumonia again. Only this time they didn’t make him stay. They gave him strong antibiotics and sent him home.
In the meantime his breathing continued to get worse. His oncologist prescribed steroids to help strengthen his lungs. Unfortunately they only made him ravenous and he gained 35 pounds. His pulmonary doctor told him that he would breathe easier if he lost some weight.
Soon, they found that the lung mass was producing fluid and that was causing his shortness of breath. They were able to remove the fluid by doing a thoracentesis. The procedure was uncomfortable for Jerry but seemed to give him some relief. He had this done a few times over the course of 6 months. In October of this year, after several attempts and a difficult surgery, at the suggestion from his pulmonary doctor, Jerry decided to stop the all the poking and procedures and let Hospice take over his care. He was tired of the constant fight for breath and the procedures that he had endured without complaints. His family agreed that he had been through enough. Jerry was allowed to stay home and pass with dignity in the comfort of his own home.
It was a difficult month for his family to watch him get weaker and weaker. And they were all there for him on a daily basis. His wife, children, parents and siblings took excellent care of him and kept him comfortable and happy to the end. The medications tended to make him confused but he always stayed positive and kept his sense of humor. He always had a smile and a wink for everyone. If he was suffering, he wouldn’t let anyone know because he didn’t want them worrying about him. His wife and son were at his side when he took his last breath on the morning of November 10th, 2010. It was heartbreaking and relieving at the same time. They were heartbroken to lose the man they loved so much but happy that he was finally at peace and on his way to a place where he would no longer be suffering.
Jerry O’Dell was a man that scorned no one and was loved by everyone he met. He will be missed more than he would ever have imagined.
Per Jerry’s wishes, his ashes will be spread in the ocean just off the Laguna Beach coast where he played and body surfed as a child, in the spring.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18