SSgt Gerald “Jerry” Kmieciak
SSgt Gerald “Jerry” Kmieciak, 74, died on November 12, 2019. He was a veteran of the Vietnam War.
Jerry was born on October 2nd, 1945 and raised in the Keeweenaw Peninsula in Upper Michigan. In 1964, he joined the armed forces and was assigned to the Andersen Air Force base in Guam. He was wounded in 1968 and was later awarded the Purple Heart. He was an active member of the Vietnam Brotherhood at the time of his death.
After leaving the service he moved to Ft. Myers Beach. He started out as a shrimper and later ran the gas docks/ice plant for Ballard Oil/Balgas. He was an avid metal detector, traveling from the Gulf Coast to the shores of Lake Superior. He enjoyed finding lost treasures and locating the owners. Never at a loss for his projects he was the first one there to help out a neighbor or a friend.
He is survived by his fiance Lois Ebert; his sisters, Joanne(Paul) Murn and Patti Tardiff; his brothers, Sonny and Kurt Stevens; along with several nieces and nephews.
There will be a memorial service at a later date.