Jerry Dean Wagers

Jerry was a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley with both Bachelors and Master's Degrees in History. His college career was interrupted by a tour of duty in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Upon graduation, he began a career as a historian with the National Park Service at Fort Vancouver in Vancouver, Washington. He later helped to create the Museum of Western Exploration at the Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. Jerry was an instructor at the Harpers Ferry Training Center, West Virginia, and helped create and develop Gateway National Seashore, supervised work at the Statue of Liberty, and other locations around New York, including Grant's Tomb. He was Regional Director in Boston, Massachusetts before being assigned as Superintendent at Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Boulder City in 1976. Lake Mead was his last job assignment before his retirement in 1986.

Jerry served on several regional planning boards and commissions, including the Las Vegas Office of the Red Cross after retirement. He was an award-winning photographer, an avid woodworker, a great cook, and a wonderful family man. He had a deep love of animals, nature, and his native California.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, and first wife, Jane Louise Kitchen. Jerry is survived by Carol, his wife of 37 years, sister Bettye Spruance, brother Bill [Dianne] Wagers, sons Matthew [Andrea], Andrew [Yayoi], and Douglas [James Thomas], step-daughter Terri Marotta [Steve], nephews Brian and Brett Wagers, and grand-children Kelly, Ian, and Katelyn Wagers.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Jerry's name may be made to either the Arrowhead Park Service Alumni Newsletter, or to the National Park Foundation, P.O. Box 17394, Baltimore, MD 21298-9450, or at www.nationalparks.org.