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Thursday, October 5, 2023
Starts at 11:00 am (Pacific time)
Born in 1946 in Kingsburg Ca. Graduated from Sunset High School and Lake Chabot College. Jerry served in The Army National Guard of California from 1967-1971. He Moved to Ukiah in 1998 from Marin County Built his home in Redwood Valley in 2001. He was a Forty Niner Faithful and season ticket holder since Kezar Stadium in SF . An avid fan of The Warriors
He restored his family’s 1930 Ford Model A 30 years ago and was an active member and former president of Lake County Model A Club. Jerry is survived by his wife Irma Eddy, step children Michael, Jeffery (Shawna) and Michele (Eric). Five grandchildren Sarah, Jackson, Jake, Tanner and Brenna . Two great grandchildren Dominic and Olivia and many nephews, nieces and cousins.
He was preceded in death by his Mother Dot,Father Lee ,Brother Roy and several first cousins.
May Jerry rest in peace and the Lord’s Perpetual Light shine upon him
Did you know... that Jerry Eddy begins every day by 4:30 a.m. working out at the
gym? He returns home about 6:30. Irma also attends a fitness class three times a
week but it starts at mid morning.
Jerry was born in Kingsburg, California which is about 16 miles south of Fresno.
Irma was born in Mexico City but moved to California with her parents as a very
young child. They met in 1976, began dating on and off for 15 years and finally
married in 1991. Jerry doesn’t have children of his own but Irma has three children
and so between them have a lot of grandchildren and even great-grandchildren.
Jerry was the parts manager for a large Chrysler dealer in Daly City and Irma was
a personal banker at Wells Fargo in the Bay area. Since Jerry had a strong interest
in woodshop and mechanical drawing in high school when he saw a book in the
store called How to Build a House, he decided to do it. They bought a parcel at
Lake Pillsbury and built a garage and then stayed there while they built a vacation
house. Eventually, Jerry talked Irma into moving to the Ukiah area and she
managed to get a transfer to Wells Fargo with the same job. Irma found a
spectacular lot where Jerry designed and built a beautiful home on Uva Drive in
Redwood Valley. He started construction in 1999 and, mostly working by
himself, he finished it in 2001 and they have been living there happily ever since.
Jerry has a perfect 1930 Model A sport coupe which is authentic in every detail.
He is actually only the third owner. His grandfather, in Kingsburg, bought the car
when it was only 3 years old. He used it on his farm, Jerry’s grandmother drove it
to town every week for groceries, and everyone in the family used it as needed.
Even his 13 year old cousin, Jim, drove it on the back roads. In 1956, Grandfather
gave the car to Jim but by 1958, Jim blew out the rear end. Jerry and Jim somehow
got the car back to the farm and parked it under a lean to, jacked it up, and hung it
by a chain which is where it hung for the next 10 years. Jerry got involved with
Harley Davidson motorcycles but then he quit that and he went back to the farm
and bought the old Model A from his cousin Jim who let him have it for $100. He
took it back to San Leandro but the apartment manager would not let him keep it
there so he found another place to store it until he could get his own place.
Everyone thought he was crazy to try to restore it. The rear end was still blown,
there were BB holes and other holes and rust all over the body, the upholstery had
rotted away, the rumble seat had been welded closed, the roof was gone, the
fenders had long gashes in them and nothing worked. His relatives all said it
should go to the dump.
Jerry began taking all the parts that could be salvaged, putting them in boxes,
carefully labeling them, and restoring or replacing them as he had time and money.
Since he worked for a car dealership, he got the body shop man to work on his car
in his spare time. At Jerry’s request, no Bondo was used anyplace. After welding
new pieces on and even using authentic original Model A rivets, the body man
finished in about two weeks! Jerry was shocked that it was so fast and so perfect.
He was even more pleased that he was only charged $300. It still needed
upholstery and a new engine. Again, the car sat for another ten years but finally,
Jerry was able to hire out the woodworking and upholstery on the whole car. The
last step was to get to Arizona and have Bob Burres help him install a new engine.
In an hour and fifteen minutes, he and Bob had a new engine installed! Jerry and
Irma were able to finally drive it away. Jerry painted it in his garage himself after
putting up plastic sheathing and wetting the floor so as not to create dust. It had
taken 20 years to restore it. Altogether, Jerry has owned the car for 55 years. He
has restored it with all authentic parts so it can be judged at shows. He has won
many trophies and ribbons at car shows all over the state.
In 2004, Irma found the Lake County Model A Club and they became very active
members for many years. They still love to come to the events and visit with
members. They generally trailer the car to events but they have driven it to
Minden, Nevada and even the very dusty, bumpy road to Bodie, California.
Jerry also has a 1936 Ford V-8 in mint condition. Even the underside of the
Sports Coupe is spotless so be sure to look at the lovely Copra Drab green gem
the next time he drives it to the club.
Thursday, October 5, 2023
Starts at 11:00 am (Pacific time)
Ukiah Cemetery
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