Jerry Edwards passed peacefully April 11, 2023, in Twin Falls, Idaho, of natural causes. He is survived by his two daughters, Kara Lynn Rowe and Lisa Ann Unser; granddaughter, Kelsey Lynn Lindsey; grandson, Stephen Grant Rowe; great-grandsons, Thomas Perry Lindsey and Harlan Grant Rowe; and granddaughter, Sage Lynn Rowe.

Jerry was born in Nebraska and moved with his parents Vivian and Agnes Edwards to North Dakota where they homesteaded the Wild West. In 1931, the Dust Bowl drove them West to Oregon. As a youngster, Jerry picked strawberries in the vast agricultural fields. He was a lively boy and was constantly giving his younger brother and sister Bob and Maybelle a real run for their money. Incredibly surviving rheumatic fever at a young age, he grew to love downhill skiing, even making his first pair of skis out of barrel staves. He became an accomplished downhill ski racer and qualified 1st Alternate on the Olympic ski team. Then polio interrupted his ski career.

From 1950 to 1954 he was in the Air Force. He was very proud of his military service as a tail gunner on a B-36 Bomber, and in 1953 they were awarded the Strategic Air Command’s crew of the month. He flew frequent missions in West Russia and his stories of 26 hour long missions in the largest bomber ever made were amazing tales of bravery.

When he got out of the service it was time for lots of fun and he set his sights on Sun Valley, Idaho, and Bald Mountain. Qualifying for being one of the famous Sun Valley Ski School instructors and competing in the running of the famed Sun Valley Harriman Cup, winning in 1956 with Felicia VanHoff’s team. Jerry was a legendary favorite ski instructor for Sun Valley, and one of his most memorable clients were the Apollo 13 astronauts Gene Cernan and Ron Evans who became lifelong friends.

His good friends Joe and Pudge Young talked of Alaska and the great opportunities. So, in 1956, off to Alaska he went and helped opened the Arctic Valley Ski Resort just east of Anchorage, Alaska, in the Chugach Mountains. Then with the desire to become a commercial fisherman in Cook Inlet he moved his family to Kasilof, Alaska, where he fished the m/v Setter and the m/v Kara Sea. Additionally he worked spring and fall as a surveyor on the Alaska/Canadian Highway and then eventually on the Alaska Pipeline. He helped rebuild the Alaska Railroad after the historical 1964 earthquake, one of the largest ever recorded at 9.2.

In retirement Jerry went back to Sun Valley and filled his days with cross country skiing, BS-ing about the olden days at the Pioneer and Christy bar and traveled to his apartment in South Africa where his photography skills were quite impressive. He will be missed by family and friends.

Jerry will be laid to rest beside his son Stephen Edwards. In lieu of flower please donate to the Shriner’s Burn Hospital for Children, 815 Market St, Galveston, TX 77550. or online at  https://donate.lovetotherescue.org/. Please direct your donations to Texas Shriners.

We invite family and friends to share a memory or leave a condolence at www.woodriverchapel.com.