Gerald Dee Newbold

Gerald Dee Newbold passed away peacefully on the morning of Saturday, May 11, 2024 at the glorious age of 95. He was born March 25, 1929 in the small town of South Jordan, Utah. He was the second of four sons born to Daniel Mortimer and Ruth Elvera Jensen Newbold. The Jordan River area was all playground for Jerry and his brothers. They scared up rabbits, lassoed pot guts, and caught bullfrogs so mother could make fried frog legs. After work his father would tie their long poles to the outside of the car and take his boys fishing at Utah Lake. Fishing, hunting and dogs would be in Jerry’s soul all his life.

Gerald was drafted and served in the US Army 224^th Infantry during the Korean War. He was the gunner on a tank fondly named “Beats Walkin’”.  After his military service he met a young woman at Pacific Fruit, where they both were working. Her name was Carol Ann Durrant. He and Carol married on August 8, 1955. They built a small fishing boat together from a kit, and in 1956 they bought a home in Granger, Utah, where he would live for 68 years. In October 1956 Carol gave birth to twin girls, Maryanne and Marguerite, who both died not long after birth. It was four years before another daughter, Elizabeth, came along – the only child they would get to raise.

Jerry and Carol were sealed together for eternity in the Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on April 8, 1981.  Later that year, Carol died at the age of 47.  The following May he married Peggy Palmer and they were married 16 years before their divorce in 1998.

Jerry was a quiet, steady, honest and hardworking man, like the other men in his family.  He worked as a dockhand at IML freight for 30 years and later at Huish Distributing until his retirement. He will be remembered in his neighborhood for vegetables and fruits he grew and shared with others. He loved nature, even at his home where he fed the quail each day and sat on the back stoop to watch and study them. He was an avid hunter, an excellent marksman, but never wasted what he shot. Annual duck hunts provided an opportunity to be with his great-nephews creating some special generational ties. Jerry was also a very patient fisherman, and could wait from sunup to sundown for a fish to bite.

Speaking of fish - In his last few years, he finally decided to consider his family’s advice and plan some fishing in Alaska. With his daughter Liz, son-in-law Steve, and a few grand and great-grandkids, he embarked on guided Alaskan sea adventures at ages 92, 93 and 94, making wonderful and sometimes hilarious memories and reeling in the biggest fish of his life in 2021 – a 49 ½ inch halibut.

Jerry loved his dogs, usually labradors which he trained to retrieve. He trained his last hunting dog, Leana, when he was 80 years old. Among his hobbies in life – bowling, playing church softball, tying fishing flies, reloading his own shotgun shells, collecting cans for recycling, collecting and repairing the 100 plus 5-gallon buckets that he and his buddy, Glenn, collected over the years from the roadsides. Though he had always loved to do paint-by-numbers, in his later years he painted those paint-by-number kits nearly every day, completing more than 300 masterpieces over the last 15 years. He loved watching sports on tv - BYU football in the fall, Utah Jazz basketball in the spring and Colorado Rockies baseball in the summer. He was also patient enough to watch golf, bowling, hunting and fishing shows. He was a fiercely independent soul and could not be made to do anything he didn’t want to do. He loved his family and was blessed with 10 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.

Gerald is preceded in death by his parents, Dan and Ruth Newbold, his brothers LaMar Newbold and Shirley Newbold; his wife, Carol, his daughters Maryanne and Marguerite. He is survived by his brother DeRoyce Newbold, his daughter Elizabeth (Steve) Chesnut, his grandchildren Ryan Chesnut (Megan), Camille (Jake) Sherrill, Andrew Chesnut (Kristi), Erinn (Brian) Kessler, Erik Chesnut (Brooke), Michael Chesnut (Iris), Austin Chesnut, Rachelle Chesnut, Abbie Chesnut, and Matthew Chesnut along with seventeen great-grandchildren.

A viewing will be held Friday evening May 17, 2024, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at Goff Mortuary, 8090 S. State St. Midvale, UT.  The funeral will be held Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 11:00 AM at the Granger 15th ward building of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 2835 South 2855 West, West Valley City, UT 84119, with a viewing at 10:00 AM before the service. Interment to follow services at South Jordan City Cemetery.