Gerry Allen Adair, a Statesman, a cowboy, a life-time business owner and Real Estate Broker, father, son, brother, and devoted husband, passed away peacefully Sunday morning, August 7, 2022 of congestive heart failure at the age of 82 .He is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Bonnie Jean Dredge Adair, his 5 children, Shelley Ruth Chambers, Gerry Delwin (Tammy), Talbot Wayne (Desirae), Susan Laraine Grant (Kendall), and Joseph Allen (Mechelle) ; as well as 18 grandchildren and 28 great-grandchildren, all a tribute to his life and legacy.
Gerry was born in Cedar City on July 30, 1940. As a child in the humble home of a goat-herder, Joseph Welton Jr., and Susan Eveline (Evelyn) Smith Adair, Gerry spent his childhood years in the small town of New Harmony, Utah across the valley from the spectacular Kolob Canyon cliffs, which he loved. He learned to work hard at a young age, and delivered newspapers to help his mother feed his family. He worked for the rest of his life until he retired in 2007.
In the 6th grade, Gerry moved to the Salt Lake Valley with his family. As a teenager at Granite High School, he played the kettle drums in the orchestra and lettered on the Varsity football team. At Granite High, Gerry met a beautiful blue-eyed blonde in Bonnie and they were married in 1959.
Gerry worked as a gas station attendant and mechanic in his young teenage years, and later at Sears in the Tire Department. He also worked as a milkman, and at Hercules. As his little family grew, so did the need for a career. Gerry chose real estate, and eventually opened his own office, “Acre” Co. in Ogden, then later the Century 21 Golden Spike office in Sunset, Utah where he helped countless families find and get into homes.
While Gerry achieved much success in the real estate world, he never down-played its enormousity and difficulty. Realizing there might be more consistent and reliable means to earning a living, Gerry repeatedly told his children, and anyone who would listen, “Get an education.” As it was, he applied the tenet, “Nothing can take the place of honesty, sincerity, and intelligent hard work” to everything he did. If he ever had a spare moment, he read voraciously.
Representative Adair was elected, and served for ten years in the Utah State Legislature while juggling the responsibilities of family, home, and career. With the help and sacrifice of both Bonnie and Joe, his youngest son who held the Real Estate Office together in his absence, he created and passed countless bills that helped the citizens of the State of Utah. He loved his constituents and his responsibilities as a Utah Statesman. He considered it a great honor and privilege to serve his country, which he loved with unmatched devotion.
In preparation for semi-retirement, Gerry and Bonnie moved to the green-timber trees of Ashton, Idaho to live out their dream of sharing a cabin in the woods. They loved their life there together, and their Idaho neighbors and friends, who always stepped up to care for one another in the wild Southeastern Idaho winters.
Other than being with his first love, Bonnie, Gerry enjoyed adventuring in the mountains with his boys, brothers, and close friends. They often hunted elk and deer in 12-mile canyon in Southern Utah. For nearly a dozen seasons, Gerry could be found in his happy place on backcountry pack trips into Two-Ocean Pass in Yellowstone.
As a Grandpa, Gerry loved to saddle up Charlie Brown and put his little buckaroos atop a leather seat and let them feel the joy of “Cowboy up!” while he led them around the pasture. The “Merry Walker” (horse walker) he had in his back forty brought joy and giggles to his grandchildren. He loved to make them smile, as much as he loved hearing them call him Grandpa. In his later years, if you asked Gerry what mattered most in his long years of life, his response was always “Family.”
Gerry was preceded in death by his father, Joseph Welton Adair and his mother Susan Evelyn Smith, his oldest brother Lynn, and a sister, Sherryl. He is survived by three brothers, Donnell Jean, Phillip Robin, and Roland Smith.
The Adair family would like to extend their gratitude to the Homestead Hospice Staff for their compassionate care and concern in Gerry’s care.
Services to honor Gerry will be held Friday, August 12, 2022 at the 3rd Ward LDS Church by the cemetery in Ashton, Idaho. A viewing will be held from 9:30 am to 10:45 am, followed by a funeral service at 11:00 am. Interment will follow at the Pineview Cemetery in Ashton, Idaho at 1313 North 3600 East, Ashton, Idaho 83420.
Published by Rexburg Standard Journal on Aug. 9, 2022.
34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315ATo plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Comments are closed.