Major Gerald (Gerry) Clarence Schirmer, 84, passed away October 26, 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Gerry is best known for his commitment to family and country and for his passion for aviation. Gerry was born in Holton, Kansas, to Rebecca (Haag) and Clarence Schirmer on March 5, 1932 and was raised on the family farm just outside of town. Gerry graduated from Holton High School in 1950 where he had met the love of his life, Nancy Moore. Shortly after college Gerry and Nancy married and spent 63 years together raising four children and managing dual careers. While they both were born and raised in Kansas, they lived in many places as an Air Force family including Mississippi, Texas, Arizona, Kansas, England, Germany and Nevada. Gerry and Nancy were a close couple and always enjoyed traveling and exploring the world together especially when they flew together in their private plane.
Gerry’s passion for aviation started early. When he was five, his sister, Marguerite, gave him a toy airplane and he had “plane on the brain” from that point on. He said that it was like something in his brain just “switched on” and the passion was very “intense”. In high school he hung out at the airfield in Valley Falls and had his first solo flight in 1949 at age 17, unknown to his parents. They just thought he was getting serious with a girl that lived near Larkinburg, KS. The girl, his future wife, happened to be on the way to Valley Falls. This meant his double life was quite conventient. He kept his flying a secret because his father and brother thought airplanes were extremely dangerous given their experiences in WWW I and WWW II. His brother survived as a bombardier in WWW II but not without losing many comrades and damaging his foot from frost bite. When his brother finally found out about Gerry’s flying activities, he immediately took out a life insurance policy to cover funeral expenses. He thought Gerry was reckless and doomed to an early grave.
After high school, Gerry joined the Air Force ROTC at the University of Kansas and continued to fly and got his pilot license from Erhart Flying Services in Lawerence, KS. He worked as a line boy at the airport to get flying time. The work experince was later applied toward getting practical time needed for his Aircraft & Engine credentials.
When he left college in 1954, Gerry was commissioned into the US Air Force as a Second Lieutenant and headed to flight school. With his flight experience, exceptional skills, and enthusiasm, Lieutenant Schirmer graduated top of his flight school class of 1955 in Waco, Texas and became a jet pilot instructor assigned to Greenville, Mississippi. Later, Captain Schirmer became an F-100 fighter pilot trained in Arizona and then stationed in England and Germany. In 1967, he served in the Vietnam War were he flew 303 combat missions and in 1968 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and Air Medal with 15 Clusters. After he came back from Vietnam, Major Schirmer was selected to be in the initial cadre of pilots for the state-of-the-art F-111 supersonic fighter jet in Las Vegas, Nevada. In 1973, left his family in Las Vegas and to serve another year in the Vietnam War. In 1974, Gerry returned to Las Vegas and continued to fly and train others in the F-111 until he retired from the Air Force in 1977. Gerry was very proud to have served his country for 22 years as a military pilot.
As much as Gerry liked flying, he also enjoyed turning wrenches and working on planes. He earned and maintained his A&P certification. He and Nancy owned and operated a small business to buy and sell/lease airplanes. They bought their first plane, a Cessna 140, while they were still just boyfriend and girlfriend in 1953. They made a great team where Gerry did the mechanical work, Nancy kept the books, and they shared a joy for the business’ flying duties. While Gerry was usually pilot in command, Nancy had her pilot license too and was always a helpful copilot and navigator.
So when Gerry retired from the Air Force in 1977, he became an instructor in Lear Jets flying for Martin Aviation in Orange County, CA for eight months. Then the owner of Scenic Air Lines who recognized his unique combination of flying and mechanic qualifications, asked Gerry to be Vice President of Operations and Maintenance without a formal interview. Gerry accepted the offer right away and spent 13 years with Scenic. Gerry especially enjoyed the challenge of working with the deHavilland Twin Otter airplanes and optimizing their configuration for passenger flights to the Grand Canyon. For example, in 1986, he worked with Raisbeck Engineering and the Federal Aviation Administration to get a new turbofan propeller certified for the Twin Otters.
After retiring again in 1990, Gerry continued to fly as a corporate pilot into his late seventies. At the same time, Gerry continued to fly his private plane and had his last flight just a week before he died suddenly from a fatal head injury caused by an accidental fall at home. Gerry, a lifetime member of QB’s, always enjoyed hanging out at the airport with his fellow airport bums, working on planes, and lending a hand whenever he could. He will be missed my many, especially his close friend Chuck Holden.
Gerry accumulated over 20,000 hours of flying time. In General aviation he flew Beechcraft V tailed Bonanza, A-36, C-33, Baron. As a corporate pilot he flew several models of the Cessna Citation, Beechjet, Hawker, Gulf Stream. In the Air Force he flew T-28, T-33, T-38, F-100 and F-111.
Gerry is preceded in death by his wife, Nancy; his parents, Rebecca and Clarence Schirmer; his sister, Marguerite (Schirmer) Sharp; brother, David Schirmer, daughter, Patty Schirmer and grandson Grant Schirmer.
Gerry is survived by daughters Susan (Mike) Machen and Sarah (Joe) d’Eon; son Chet (Karen) Schirmer; 10 grandchildren Samantha (Ben) Alsop, Ben (Megan) Machen, Alexandra Machen, Edward Machen, Jeanne (Tony) Cafferata, Christie d’Eon, Joe d’Eon, Tiffany (Tony) Jordan, Jetta (Noah) Russell, and Kit Schirmer; 8 great-grandchildren Lola and AJ Cafferata, Grayson Alsop, Emerson and Declan Russell, Elliott Machen, and Eli and Remington Jordan; and sister-in-law Ellen Schirmer.