Gerald Allen Twist

Gerald Allen Twist was born on November 16, 1925, in Springfield, Massachusetts to Gladys Madeleine Allen Twist and LoRee Beecher Twist. He and his younger brother John Beecher Twist lived in Springfield until 1938 when they moved to Baltimore Maryland. Geralds father LoRee was a YMCA Secretary so much of Geralds younger years were spent participating in YMCA activities and attending YMCA camps such as Camp Norwich, Camp Ashley, Camp Canoy and Camp Letts. Gerald and his brother John enjoyed ice skating on local ponds and one time they broke through the ice. Gerald first attended school at Mitteneague Grammer School in Springfield.

In 1938 Gerald’s family moved to Baltimore Maryland where he attended Garrison Junior High School. One night in 1938 Gerald and John were home alone while their parents were out with friends, and they turned on the radio in the middle of Orsen Wells’s famous radio play of “War of the Worlds” which was set in nearby New Jersey. While they believed the radio play was an actual news story, as many others did, they decided there was nothing they could do about it, so they just went to sleep. Anyone who knew Gerald would not be surprised by this because he was one of the most easy-going guys you could ever meet, and he could sleep anywhere no matter what was going on around him.

Gerald attended High School at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute and worked during the summers on the Frank Foard farm. He always shared many fond memories of his summers working on the farm. One memory about High School that he often shared was about one of his teachers that had no tolerance for people sleeping or not paying attention in his classroom. This teacher had a ball of string coated with Shellac and attached to a large rubber band. It seems this teacher could hit any seat in the classroom either directly or with a bank shot off the blackboard with the ball of string and he did so anytime someone was not paying attention. No count of how many times Gerald was on the receiving end of that ball of string was ever offered.

In the summer of 1943 Gerald lied about his age, he was only 17 at the time, and with the help of his uncle Dick he quit High School and enlisted in the Marine Corp. After completing basic training at Paris Island, he was stationed at Camp Lejeune before being deployed to the WWII pacific theater. He passed through New Caledonia, Guam, and the Russel Islands on his way to Peleliu Island. He never talked much about what he went through on Peleliu, but it was a testament to his will and strength that he came home.

Gerald was discharged in February of 1946 and returned to Maryland to finish High School and he went on to Lafayette College where he played Lacrosse and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. He graduated in 1951 and went to work for the Philco Corporation in Philadelphia.

In 1954 he married Ruth Brown, who he met during his time in Baltimore, and they bought a house and moved to Warminster PA, a suburb of Philadelphia. In 1956 Ruth and Gerald’s only child David Twist was born. Ruth, Gerald, and David lived in Warminster for 10 years. During this time Gerald Joined the Navy Reserve as a Lieutenant JG and started competing in Target Shooting matches. Gerald later retired from the Navy Reserve as a Captain.

In 1966 Gerald and his family reached a crossroads. Philco had been bought by the Ford Motor Company and they were closing the Philadelphia plant where Gerald worked. He was offered a transfer to the Philco-Ford plant in Newport Beach California and had to decide whether he wanted to look for a new job on the east coast or move to California. Since all of their family and friends were on the east coast this was a big decision, but they decided to pull up stakes and move across the country.

In the summer of 1966 Gerald and about 10 of his co-workers and their families all moved to Orange County California. Gerald eventually retired from Ford Aerospace in 1988 after 37 years, that being his only job since he graduated from college. He also stayed close to all those friends that moved to California, so it seems like their decision worked out OK.

In 1981 Ruth died of Melanoma at the age of 53. After a few years of living alone in Tustin, Gerald was introduced to Rosalie Martin by mutual friends, and they started dating. In 1986 they were married at Christ Lutheran Church in Costa Mesa and Gerald moved to Rosalie’s Condo in Costa Mesa as they both started the next chapter of their lives.

Rosalie had always been very adventurous and loved to travel so in 1988 when they had both retired, they started traveling to places far and wide including Australia, Hawaii, Bora Bora, France, Galapagos Islands and Antarctica. They also got a small tent trailer and drove all over the country visiting friends and relatives.

Rosalie was an avid skier and she got Gerald into skiing for the first time in his mid 60’s and they took countless ski trips to the Alpenhof Lodge in Mammoth Mountain where they became well known by the owners and the locals. They had a group of ski buddies, and they took ski trips all over the country and Canada. They continued to ski into their 90’s.

Gerald and Rosalie continued living on their own in their condo in Costa Mesa until they were both well into their 90’s and then they moved together to an assisted living facility in Costa Mesa. They were the cutest couple at the facility and were always either participating in activities together or sitting at their table holding hands.

In March 2023 Rosalie went on ahead to heaven while Gerald held her hand as she passed. Gerald spent the next five months missing Rosalie but always trying to live his best life with a positive attitude, to the point that the staff loved him so much that they argued about who would get to take care of him. After a sudden brief battle with pneumonia Gerald left us to be with Rosalie and other friends and family who had gone before.

Gerald was a loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather and friend and will be missed by all who knew him. Gerald was survived by his son David Twist and his wife Marci, stepson Paul Martin and his wife Paula, stepdaughter Holly, grandchildren Brian Twist, Kevin Twist, Stacey Twist and Joshua Martin, great grandchildren Troy, Peyton, Eric, Cole, and Blake as well as several nieces and nephews.