Jerry Meerkatz, 63

Jerry Meerkatz was born on Dec. 21, 1957, in Rawlins, Wyoming. His family moved to Kalispell when he was 3 years old. After graduating from Flathead High in 1976, he moved to Phoenix, working full-time, while attending and graduating from DeVry Institute.

He started his career at ITT Courier/Servcom where he and Tori met. They married in 1988 and moved to Houston where he accepted a position with Compaq Computer. There, they had their two kids, Sarah and Jake. After 14 successful years as an executive, and the merging of Compaq and Hewlett-Packard, the decision was made to retire and relocate the family to Montana in 2002. This first retirement only lasted a few months before he went back to work running two separate start-up companies in Vancouver, British Columbia, for five years. His second retirement began in 2008, and during this time he was honored to give back to the community by volunteering and serving on various boards. He especially enjoyed the construction and remodeling projects at both Hope Pregnancy Ministries and Stillwater Christian School with his good friend and business partner, Mark Moerkerke. In 2011 he went back to work once again. He worked for the Thompson Group running a start-up company in San Jose, California, for three years. Even with all these accomplishments, Jerry’s most favorite and most rewarding job was the five years he spent as president and CEO of Montana West Economic Development in Kalispell, where he showcased his leadership, negotiating skills, communication and integrity. MWED was less than a mile away from his house. He was able to come home and have a bologna sandwich for lunch with Tori and Simba daily and this was always so special to him.

Everyone who knew Jerry could speak to his character. He was one of those magnetic people that everyone respected, impacting so many lives without even knowing it. He was generous, kind, loving, encouraging, loyal, thoughtful, hardworking, helpful and, of course, funny as ever. His smile and laugh were contagious and will be forever missed. Everyone will also remember how much Jerry loved to talk. He could start up a conversation with anyone he met. No matter what store we went into it took an extra 10 minutes to leave because he always knew someone.

Jerry loved doing so many things. He loved working in his newly built shop. He loved welding. He always loved a good project, whether it be home improvement projects or helping others with their projects. He loved riding motorcycles with family and with his motorcycle group, the Ill Begotten Flames. He loved spending quality time with family. He especially felt fortunate living close by his mom. He loved his new puppy, Spencer, and his grand-dogs Hudson, Traeger and Sampson. He loved a double pour of Buffalo Trace with friends. He loved his weekly Thursday date night with Tori at either Spencer’s Steakhouse or Brannigan’s where they could see their favorite servers and bartenders. He loved looking at new cars, trucks, motorcycles, houses, you name it. We cannot tell you how much time we spent in car lots.

On Aug. 27, 2021, the 51st day of his retirement, Jerry was doing what he loved, riding his Harley — a father and son trip that he was so excited to take but unable to finish.

Those left to mourn are his wife, Tori; daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Steffen Anderson, of Polson; son and daughter-in-law, Jake and Elisabeth Meerkatz, of White Rock, New Mexico; mother, Fran Meerkatz, of Kalispell; sister and brother-in-law, Robin Meerkatz and Frank Panza, of Spokane; mother and father-in-law, Carolyn and Dean Hall, of Scottsdale, Arizona; sister-in-law, Tami Hines, of Gilbert, Arizona; life-long friends, Bill and Cindy Riebe; aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and, of course, numerous friends.

Jerry and Tori celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary one month ago. We have always been such a tight-knit family of six and it is so heartbreaking to know that things are forever changed, but it brings us peace and comfort knowing he met his dad, brother and his favorite dog, Simba in heaven, and will be watching down on us every day until the day we join him.

An open house for Jerry will take place at the Meerkatz home on Saturday Sept. 4, from 2 to 5 p.m., 392 3rd Avenue East North in Kalispell, and condolences may be sent to P.O. Box 703, Kalispell, MT 59903.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a charity of your choice.