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Letter to the editor

Modest veteran's business success spoke volumes

By STEPHANIE HAYES, Times Staff Writer
Published September 28, 2007

ADVERTISEMENT Richard Jerger, founder of Jerger and Sons insurance and realty business, died Wednesday. [Family photo] [Family photo] Richard Jerger was in the Army Air Corps. With a blown tire and one good engine, he safely landed a plane after a three hour Nazi air battle. He wooed his wife, Evelyn, an Army nurse, by flying a B-17 over the nurses quarters and tossing out a streamer with a note attached asking her to a U.S.O dance.

TREASURE ISLAND - Richard Jerger really wanted a date with Evelyn, a pretty blond Army nurse he met in England. But she was hesitant.

So, he wooed her the best he knew how - by flying a B-17 over the nurses' quarters and dropping a note asking her to a USO dance.

Worked like a charm.

Evelyn married Richard and stayed by his side for more than 60 years. She and the rest of his family were with him Wednesday when he died. He was 89.

He was born in St. Petersburg to a family hit hard by the Great Depression. Richard went to school with holes in his pants and spent his spare time swimming, fishing and catching scallops.

His family split up to find work. Richard went to North Carolina but, at 14, drove back to Florida in a Model A Ford.

"He came across Dale Mabry when it was two planks of wood," said Richard's son, Tom Jerger.

During World War II, he completed two tours of duty in the Army Air Corps, volunteering a second time to be near Evelyn, pregnant and stationed in Paris.

Richard was a deft airman, and in 1943 he was featured in the newspaper.

After a three-hour Nazi air battle, he managed to land his plane in a grassy field with a blown tire, one working engine and no radio.

Richard loved to tell war stories, even as his life veered toward business.

After the war, Richard raised three boys and became a well-known insurance and real estate agent in the area. For about 50 years, he ran the Jerger and Sons agency, pioneering the field of mobile home insurance policies.

At 6 feet 5, he had a larger-than-life presence. But he was soft-spoken, modest and quick-witted, his family said. He was always two steps ahead of everyone with a joke.

"He was a quiet type of guy," said Tom. "But when he talked, everybody listened."

An astute businessman, Richard owned several mobile home parks and apartment complexes. He was heavily involved at Pasadena Community Church, where a social hall is named after him.

His second home was in north Georgia. He avidly hunted quail, squirrels and ducks. When his boys turned 16, he gave them all shotguns. When his grandchildren turned 16, he did the same.

He worked until 2000 - no surprise to anyone. In 1983, he explained his plans in a newspaper article about Jerger and Sons.

"People who retire die young," he said. "And I would like to die old."

Stephanie Hayes can be reached at shayes@sptimes.com or 727 893-8857.

Remembering

Richard Jerger

Born: July 16, 1918

Died: Sept. 26, 2007

Survivors: wife, Evelyn Jerger; sons, Richard M. Jerger Jr. and wife, Cathy, Thomas J. Jerger and wife, Sandy, Dean W. Jerger and wife, Andie; grandchildren, John Jerger, Mitch Jerger, Michele Jerger Locke, Adam Jerger, Ted Jerger and Chance Foster; 13 great-grandchildren; stepsister, Betty Jane Johnson; nephew, Mike Masterson; and nieces, Yvonne Meeks, Renee Gouaux.

Services: Visitation from 1-3 p.m. Sunday at Brett Funeral Home, 4810 Central Ave. Service at 11 a.m. Monday at Pasadena Community Church, 227 70th St. S.

[Last modified September 27, 2007, 22:39:32]