Geraldine van Woerkom Brunker

Jerrie’s mother, Edith Ione Barker, was a descendant of English pilgrims who lived in Massachusetts in the 1600s. Her father was the descendant of immigrants from The Netherlands and Germany who came to America in the 1800s. Her mother was the eldest of a large family and Jerrie spent her time in Ogden with uncles and aunts who were close to her in age. Jerrie’s father was a train conductor during the height of train travel. When he saw Portland, Oregon he decided it was the most beautiful place he’d ever seen and moved his family there between the end of the 1940s and beginning of the 1950s. Jerrie attended Jason Lee School and later became a member of the first class to attend the new Madison High School for all four years. In her young adult years she returned to Ogden and attended Weber State College. She met Marlin Thomas Brunker and on November 26, 1966 they were married in the Idaho Falls temple. They had a son in 1968 and daughter in 1971. While Marlin was at work at Wonder Bread Bakery he suddenly collapsed and died of unknown causes. Jerrie returned to her parents in Portland and purchased her own home in the late 1970s where she would live for nearly 45 years. She worked as at Deseret Book store and later for The American Red Cross and American Heart Association. Jerrie was a very religious person who loved her pioneer heritage and was a member of Daughters of Utah Pioneers for 50 years.

Jerrie was preceded in death by her husband Marlin Thomas Brunker, her mother Edith Ione van Woerkom, her father David van Woerkom and older brother Dean van Woerkom. She is survived by her younger brother Leon van Woerkom, son Leslie David Brunker and daughter Julie Marie Lee (born Brunker).

The dedication of the grave will be held on Saturday, January 27, 2024 at Sunset Hills Memorial Park (6801 SW Sunset Hwy, Portland, OR) at 2pm.

Arrangements by Finley-Sunset Hills Mortuary & Sunset Hills Memorial Park.