On August 9th, 2016 Jerome Wendell Webster surrounded by his loving family went to be with the Lord. Jerry was 82. He was born in Litchfield Minnesota on August 22, 1933 to Wendell and Hazel Webster. He grew up in a blue collar family of meager means. As a child and young boy, he was his younger brothers companion and protector and as the oldest child, shouldered parental responsibilities common in those times of the great depression.
After Jerry graduated high school at Senior High School in Billings MT in 1951, he worked summers for his uncle Calvin’s trucking company hauling loads up and down the Beartooth hwy. After moving with his family to Southern California, he worked for Douglas Aircraft as an assembler for $1.09/hr. Over the next 2 years he honed skills in machine shops serving a bustling aviation industry while mixing in summer work working on fire crews for the US Forrest Service, before ultimately joining the Navy in 1954. While at Airman School, he finished 6th in his class of 180, earning honors and choice of work station. His fist assignment was in Fallon Nevada as an air traffic controller, where he met his future first wife Cindy Hechinger. He earned his Senior Controller Certificate from the Civil Aeronautics Administration during this time. He parlayed that into a career with the CAA and later with the Federal Aviation Administration.
He worked short stints in several towers over the next couple of years including those at Palmdale Ca, Casper WY., and Billings MT. In 1956, he married Cindy and they had two children. Jerry eventually found a permanent location at the Rapcon, on Malmstrom Air Force base in Great Falls MT in 1960. He also suffered the loss of his third child to SIDS. Through this brutally difficult time the family was split apart. He would stay in Great Falls and enjoy a successful career at Malmstrom AFB for over 15 years there where he met many of his closest friends.
He was an avid snow skier and spent several winters as a ski instructor on Kings Hill east of Great falls. During this time, he met and eventually married his second wife Terry Spall in 1967. They had two children together and Jerry eventually adopted her two children from a previous marriage. Together they became the ‘Brady Bunch’ of Carol Drive in Great Falls. Summers were spent vacationing at Holland Lake with several families of friends at the Rapcon. Winters were spent skiing and hunting in the great outdoors of Montana. During his career he earned promotions and grew his career enjoying over 15 years of success before retiring from the FAA in 1976. Before retirement he and Terry were divorced and once again he was on his own. He would never remarry again.
After leaving the FAA, he would find work at KFBB Television, where he was a jack of all trades, building sets, running cameras, and even filling in occasionally on air for a vacationing weatherman. During those years he could be seen often at his mother’s place in Billings, or visiting friends and family and developed an affection for Lincoln, MT. He would later find a perfect retirement location just off of 4X4 road outside of Lincoln where he resided for the next 25 years. His property was the center piece of his family both blood and extended as folks would gather to enjoy food, fishing, camping playing horseshoes and just shooting the bull around the fire pit until deep into the night. While in Lincoln he was avid Hamm radio operator and organizer of local Hamm events. He volunteered for radio work during fire seasons and at the annual Race to the Sky sled dog race’s. He worked as a camp cook for a local hunting guide, worked at Grizzly Hardware, and wrote weather articles for the Blackfoot Valley Dispatch. He learned how to carve figurines out of wood, pencil sketch drawings, and other artistic endeavors. He took on all new hobbies with the same ferocity and determination that epitomized his work life.
More than just a man of action, he was known by all as a gentle man and people person. He loved his family and treated all of them as if they were his one and only. He never forgot to send a letter or a card on birthdays and extended his limited funds to anyone who needed a helping hand. He was blessed with the gift of giving both from his heart and his resources. He respected every man woman and child that crossed his path, greeted all with a firm handshake and smile, and received the respect of family and friends in return. He was a man’s man.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents Wendell and Hazel Webster. He is survived by his brothers Robert Webster of Pleasant Grove UT and Richard Webster of Portland OR., his son Steven Webster and daughter Jeri Lynn Smith both of Vancouver WA., his son Dalin Webster of Valencia, CA., his daughter Sheri Webster of West Jordan UT., his son Brian Webster of Lincoln MT., and his daughter Denise Battista of Littleton CO. He also leaves behind 12 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.
Services will be held at the Lincoln Community Center on August 22nd, at 1PM. He will be laid to rest in the old Lincoln cemetery. There will be an informal reception at his home after the internment. While heaven has gained another warrior, his family and friends have lost a true rock, and will be greatly missed.
Please visit below to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Jerome.
Service Schedule
Celebration of His Life
1:00 p.m.
Monday August 22, 2016
Lincoln Community Hall
Lincoln, Montana 59639
Burial with Military Honors
After the service
Monday August 22, 2016
Old Lincoln Cemetery
Lincoln, Montana 59639
Service Schedule
Celebration of His Life
1:00 p.m.
Monday August 22, 2016
Lincoln Community Hall
Lincoln, Montana 59639
Burial with Military Honors
After the service
Monday August 22, 2016
Old Lincoln Cemetery
Lincoln, Montana 59639
Maureen "Enie" Fisher says
Rest in Peace Dear friend, Jerry. Thank you for all the memories during our radio transmissions during fires and the Sled Dog Races. You were a brilliant communications operator and worked hard to protect and save folks from harm. God Bless and Keep You. We’ll miss you on the air!!
Lisa Finley says
Love you Cousin Jerry! I know I didn’t get to see you much but I always looked forward to seeing you when I did. I know mom and Ruth are going to miss you terribly!
Jan and Bob Petritz says
We will miss our Lincoln neighbor Jerry! Resi in peace!
Bill & barb wilson says
We were neighbors ,across the road at lincoln and knew Jerry quite well while we owned .he was a true friend and will be missed by all Bill &barb. Wilson
Marty Coddington says
Jerry and I grew up in the same neighborhood. I knew his parents and brother Bobby. Years later we worked together in Great Fall Tower and Malmstrom RAPCON. During those years we often car pooled to Billings if we had compatible days off. I remember Cindy but never met his later wife. Jerry and I did a lot of sports car stuff together. He owned an MGA GT Coupe and I owned a Corvette. We were active in the Sports Car Club of Montana.
I did not know much of the information included in this obit but one thing I can guarantee, indeed, he was a gently and caring person.