Note: death date from military tombstone

Note: he was in the US Army in Vietnam from 1955-1957. This is not the Vietnam conflict of the 1960’s, but was an earlier war.

‘Jerry’ Sinclair is remembered as family man

Printed in the June 24, 2011 Omaha World-Herald, by Sue Story Truaz, World-Herald Staff Writer

Former Omahan Jerry Sinclair spent his career as an educator, retiring from the Millard Public Schools in 1995 after 26 years in the district.

Gerald “Jerry” A. Sinclair, 75, died Thursday at a hospice in Mesa, Ariz., said his wife, Shirley, of Apache Junction, Ariz. He spent the past three months in the hospice after a 14-year battle with cancer, she said.

Jerry Sinclair, a Maine native, served in the Army from 1955 to 1957. He received his bachelor’s degree in education at the former Dana College in Blair, Neb., and his master’s degree in education from Omaha University.

Sinclair came to Millard in 1969 after six years of teaching at a Blair elementary school and three years as a principal in the Lewis Central Community Schools of Council Bluffs.

At Millard, he served as principal at Sandoz, Cody and Norris Elementary Schools and as administrator for the Chapter One/Title One program.

He was a longtime member of the Nebraska Chapter One/Title One Advisory Committee and a member of the Nebraska State Gifted Student Committee.

Tom Nenneman, a retired assistant superintendent in Millard, said of Sinclair, “He was a very good friend. He had the greatest sense of humor. He could be stern as a principal but always had an impish smile on his face.”

The Omahan continued: “He was a great family man. Jerry was extremely proud of his three sons. That sometimes was the crux of our conversation.”

Shirley Sinclair said her husband “was a very good father and husband. I can’t say enough good things about him.

“We always took a family vacation with our sons and their families every single summer until two years ago,” she said.

After Jerry Sinclair retired, the couple traveled the United States in a motor home for more than 10 years, she said.

In retirement, Jerry Sinclair volunteered for the Adult Literacy Program in Arizona and at schools in the Phoenix area.

In Omaha, Sinclair was an active member of St. Paul Lutheran Church.

Besides his wife of 55 years, Sinclair is survived by sons Charles of West Des Moines, Jeffrey of Omaha and William of Osage Beach, Mo.; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service and celebration of Jerry Sinclair’s life will be in August or September at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 13271 Millard Ave.

~~~Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair Public Library, Blair, Nebraska.~~~

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