Jerome Gregg Anderson, better known as Jerry, passed away on Thursday, September 10, 2026, at his home in Manassa, Colorado, just 11 days short of his 86th birthday, with family members by his side. He was born in Alamosa, Colorado, on September 21, 1940, to Dr. Sidney Anderson and Mayonne Ivy Chambers Anderson. He grew up there, graduating from Alamosa High School with the class of 1958. He attended University of Colorado in Boulder for two years, where he planned to major in chemistry. He later decided that he might not enjoy working in a lab so he took a year off and moved to Salt Lake City where he worked for Western Airlines handling baggage.

He married his first wife Loraine Westbrook January 5, 1961, and they were the parents of six children: Sabrina, Penny, Christy, Brock, Jared, and Hoyt.

He enrolled at Brigham Young University and attended his last two years of college there, graduating with a business degree in 1963. He returned to Alamosa for what he thought would be a brief time while he looked for employment, but he ended up purchasing the White Hardware business, which he later expanded and remodeled, and which he owned for over 25 years. In 1985 he purchased La Jara Trading Post and ran both stores for a few years. He later sold White Hardware, and finally retired from La Jara Trading Post in 2008. He was in the hardware/lumber business for 45 years, where he helped many people with his hands-on practical knowledge of electricity, plumbing, pumps, lumber, and many other things.

He had a variety of interesting jobs as a young man. He raised pheasants and sold them, he worked for the State Highway Dept. when the road around Star was being surveyed, and when the new La Veta Pass was being built. In 1959, after his first year in college, he got a job with the Forest Service maintaining and building trails in the Del Norte District of the Rio Grande National Forest. His comments about this job were these, “We packed in for 10 days at a time. We had two horses and three mules. I learned a lot about horses, mules, packing, camping, cooking, hard work, living without luxuries, solitude, miserable weather for days on end, sleeping on the ground for months, walking, walking, mountains, nature, patience, and living with another person.”

One of his favorite things was becoming a pilot. He started taking flying lessons in January of his senior year of high school, and continued his training in Boulder. He received his Private Pilot’s license March 21, 1960, at age 19 ½. After he moved to Salt Lake City, he continued his training and received his Commercial license August 17, 1961. He sometimes flew his father, a medical doctor, or other businessmen to meetings; he flew for pleasure, flying twice into Mexico in the 1960’s; he sometimes flew the sheriff or cattlemen for their purposes. At times he flew to hardware conventions, or vacation destinations, or to visit his grandparents in Texas. Flying was a skill and pleasure he enjoyed most of his life, and he kept his pilot’s licenses and medical certifications and plane inspections up to date, until he finally gave up flying in about 2017.

On August 1, 1980, he married Sheryl Gay Sellers Trent in Manassa, Colorado, and gained five more children: Stephanie, Melanie, Tiffanie, Cynthia, and Ryan Trent. Jerry and Sheryl later had two sons: Gregg and Derek, making a grand total of 13 children in the combined family. Jerry and Sheryl enjoyed 46 years of marriage together.

Jerry was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints, having joined the church on November 27, 1960, at age 20, in Salt Lake City, Utah. He served in many callings including cubmaster, scout committee member, financial clerk, gospel doctrine teacher, high priest group leader, stake Sunday school president, and stake high councilor. He served in three bishoprics, first as a 2nd counselor, then 1st counselor, then as Bishop of Manassa First Ward. He served as an ordinance worker in the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple for 13 years, from 2004-2017.

His community service was likewise varied and plentiful as he served on the Alamosa School Board at age 28, Manassa Saddle Club board of directors, Manassa town board member, mayor of Manassa, and Conejos County Hospital board chairman. Some of these callings and positions overlapped so he was very busy.

At the same time as he was running a business and serving in church and community positions, he was busy attending many, many ballgames, track meets, wrestling meets, and other athletic, academic or musical events, and perhaps dealing with a kid’s wrecked car now and then.

Whether family members were gained through birth, marriage, or adoption, his family numbers 13 children and their spouses, 55 grandchildren and their spouses, 63 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandchild.

For a man who grew up as an only child, he certainly has a large posterity who love him and have special memories of him. Many of them were able to visit him this summer, and quite a few made frequent visits in the last few weeks.

In later years, as his memory started to fail him, many people would come up and speak to him, and he would have to say, “You look familiar, but I don’t remember your name.” He was acquainted with many, many people over the years.

There was a rapid decline in his health over the last two years, even after a slower decline for about five years previous to that. He was able to remain in his home the whole time.

He was preceded in death by three children: Brock Alden Anderson (2004), Ryan Wayne Trent (2016), and Tiffanie Ann Trent McAllister (2018), and by one young grandchild Davis Cade Chick (1998). He was also preceded in death by his parents Dr. Sidney and Mayonne Anderson, his mother-in-law Elsie Sellers and her husband Don C. Sellers, and by his first wife Loraine Westbrook (2007) and her parents.

He is survived by his wife Sheryl Sellers Anderson, his daughters Sabrina (Mike) Husmann, Penny (Chris) Dennis, Christy Anderson, Stephanie (Ed) Mondragon, Melanie (James) Sowards, and Cynthia (Jeramy) Mc Daniel, by his son-in-law Ryan McAllister, by his sons Jared (Christine) Anderson, Hoyt (Dyan) Anderson, Gregg Anderson, Derek (Cami) Anderson, his daughters-in-law Stacey (Dale Guern) Anderson, and Beth (John) Trent-Ringler, and by many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Services will be held in honor of Jerry with a visitation on Sunday, September 20, 2026 from 6 PM – 8 PM and a visitation Monday, September 21, 2026 from 10 AM – 10:45 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Manassa. The funeral service will take place Monday, September 21, 2026 at 11 AM at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Manassa.