Obituary of Gerald Vermette

Jerry Vermette passed away on Saturday, February 15, 2014 at the age of 65 years. Jerry was born on December 14, 1948 in Wawota, Saskatchewan to Margareta and Gordon Vermette. Jerry leaves to mourn his passing: his loving wife, Jeannine Vermette; mother-in-law, Geraldine Willett; brother-in-law, Greg (Sherry) Willett; sister-in-law, Dianne (Mike) Kustaski; sister-in-law, Gail (Rodney) Mabbott; nieces and nephews: Donte Munro (Chris Nairin), Stephen Willett, Andrew (Brianna) Mabbott, Nathan Willett, Logan Mabbott (Jasmine Kushenbrand), Cole Kustaski (Kali Lindsay), Landen Mabbott, Brett Kustaski and Kadin Kustaski; and two great-nephews: Jaxon and Liam Munro-Nairin. Donations in memory of Jerry may be made to The Cross Cancer Institute Comfort Fund; Lloydminster Region Health Foundation or to a Charity of the Donor's Choice. EULOGY Good evening my name is Gail Mabbott I'm Jeannine's sister and this is our brother Greg Willett. We are both honoured to pay tribute to our brother-in-law Jerry. Gerald Fredrick Vermette was born in Wawota SK Dec 14, 1948 he was the only child of Gordon and Peggy Vermette. Of course being an only child he was perfect in his mother's eyes. He was born the same year as Prince Charles. Peggy had made him a velvet romper and when asked if she thought he was Prince Charles she said "Well he is my little Prince!" Around the time he started school they moved to Wauchope because Gordon worked for CPR. Then they moved to Redvers as Gordon got a job working at the hospital. In Redvers Jerry excelled in sports. He was a pitcher in baseball, best defenseman in hockey, just like his hero Bobby Orr! He was a quarterback in football which he played in high school and college. Even after another player stepped on him and broke the bones in his hand he played the next game. With a cast formed to the shape of the football, he threw the winning touchdown ! For many years he was in Air Cadets in Redvers. He rose to the rank of Flight Lieutenant. The training he got in Air Cadets taught him how to be a leader, which later in life helped him supervise crews and give them direction. Because Jerry did extremely well in school his principal and his parents encouraged him to go to college as opposed to just taking the first job that came along. So in an epic toss of the coin Jerry decided on Engineering Drafting Technology over Accounting. This is where his speed reading and photographic memory came in handy! His first job was with the Department Of Mineral Resources in Estevan. In 1972 he got transferred to Lloydminster where he met the love of his life. A certain miniskirt at a blood donor clinic caught his eye. Luckily his friend knew the girl wearing the miniskirt and set him up on a blind date with Jeannine! On the date Jerry impressed Jeannine with how well he could connect to her with his stories. Later he impressed Dee and Gail by doing pushups with them on his shoulders. He won our Dad over with his love of the Saskatchewan Rough Riders and scotch! His stories were so good that five months later Jeannine and Jerry were married!!! Throughout their marriage when it was too quiet Jeannine would often say "Talk to me Jerry" and he would entertain her with a tale or two. In 1975 they moved back to Estevan where Jerry became the youngest Tech 3 which is as high as he could go without replacing his boss! Jeannine and Jerry came home for Greg and Sherry's wedding where a local businessman convinced him to become a consultant in the oilpatch. So they moved back to Lloydminster in the fall 1978. Where he established his career and made many friends. In 1991 Jerry found out he was not an only child after all when his half-sister Simonne contacted the family from Belgium. She visited 3 times and he got to know her and enjoyed having an older sister. Besides Jeannine the other passion in his life was golf! He was part of the Tom's Cats group who met at 8:00 every morning to go golfing if they could. As well as good exercise it was great camaraderie. From making noises during someone's putt to sharing a drink after a game, it was great fun! Jerry barbequed many steaks for the Tom's Cats barbeque in the summer, he could barbeque almost as good as he could golf! Jeannine said his mistress was the computer. It started out as a love hate relationship because he liked to do things long hand. However it graduated to Jerry creating a program that was used for years by a major oilfield company. His computer may have also been used for emailing jokes and some serious spider solitaire that Jerry and Jeannine played together. Jerry loved life, he traveled, did work that he loved and married the person he loved. He had many friends and if he was here today he would thank you all for being a part of his life.