Gerry was the Conscience of the WSC, he was an advocate for the "smaller" local unions, constantly advocating for the 359 members and their families.   We will miss his wit and sense of humor in our meetings.  

"What moves through us is a silence, a quiet sadness, a longing for one more day, one more word, one more touch, we may not understand why you left this earth so soon, or why you left before we were ready to say good-bye, but little by little, we begin to remember not just that you died, but that you lived. And that your life gave us memories too beautiful to forget."

It has taken days to figure out there are not enough words to describe Gerry and the great loss we all have suffered. Gerry was a man that took great compassion in everything he did , from the great love of his entire family, to taking care of his Union brothers and sisters and most of all the joy of his old cars. I will miss his sarcastic comments with a wink, for example , "A man in your position should shave" or, " A little hard work builds broader shoulders". But most of all I will miss my uncle,my mentor, my friend. We will all miss our brother and  his broad shoulders to lean on.

Gerry and I spent a lifetime of deep love for each other, we spent 50 years of being closer than any sister/brother could be.  Whenever Gerry was away on a trip, he always told me to watch out for Elana (the love of his life), and his kids.Gerry darling, I will watch out for your family for the rest of my life, love you, sis.

 A GOOD AND DECENT MAN HAS GONE FROM US, HE WILL BE GREATLY MISSED, HIS HUMOR, HIS DEDICATION,AND HIS LOYALTY. HE HAS ALWAYS GONE ABOVE AND BEYOND WHAT WAS REQUIRED OF HIM. HE WAS THERE TO GIVE ME A RIDE HOME AFTER MY BY-PASS AND I'M SORRY I WASN'T THERE FOR HIM. THANK YOU GERRY!

Uncle Gerry has always been in my life.  He had turned 10 years old just 5 days before I was born.  He was always at our house visiting with his sister.  I can remember when he and Randy (his nephew) came to visit us while we were living in Colorado.  He and Randy were playing with my little sister Kerri & I using the pig tails in our hair as their motorcycle handle bars with us all running around the basement.  There were also long games of Risk which Gerry & my Dad taught me to play.  As I grew older, Gerry was still there for me.  When I was still a newlywed & my husband was contemplating a new career, Gerry introduced him to the Union. In the years that followed, there were numerous times that Gerry would stop by our house to chat about the Union, politics, life, etc.  I loved those conversations & I am going to miss him greatly!

I was growing up and Gerry and me really never spoke often to each other, but I always knew that in his own way he cared about each and eveyone of us...because we were all family...No matter what.  So this is a time that my brother Stephen and Gerry were in our garage and got into an arguement of some sort and my mom and dad weren't home from work yes so they were just clowning around not knowing that they were being watched by my dad Bob,,,and it got to the point that they Stephen was chasing Gerry down the street with a hammer in his hand wanting to hit him....and when he (Stephen ) got back to the house, my dad was very upset that his son was trying to hit uncle Gerry with a hammer or any object it didn't matter what it was it was the fact that it was his little brother and his son weren't getting along so, My dad leaned over to grab Stephen and caught him by the hair on his head and just yanked it and pulled it out of his head, later on it seemed to be a sore subject but now that I think about it , it was just so funny seeing them chasing each other down the streeet.

I was saddened to hear of Gerry’s passing. I was not a close personal friend of Gerry’s, but remember how he embraced me as someone new to Union work. When I met Gerry I was working with the AFL-CIO’s 2004 election campaign and had stopped by Local 359 to talk about the campaign. Gerry gave me a personal tour of the apprentice school established at the local and it was impressive! He was so proud, as he should have been, of this tremendous apprentice program and Local 359’s beautiful union hall.

 James, Jack, Bobby, Dad, Judy, Ronnie, (GERRY)       Colleen, Cindy, Mike, Allen,                                     Doreen,  Jackie, Charlene,
(STEVE),(RANDY),DeAnn,                      Sister, Cheri,Keri,                                                            Dougie, Laurie, Lil Bobby, Lil Ronnie,                             Lil Randy and Kathy  
I  LOVE each and every one of you so much and am proud and honored to belong to this family.

I was blown away with the new's of my brother's passing. He will be working hard in Heaven and I am sure Local 359 will be represented well. He was alway's busting his hump for the working man and I am sure that his shoes will be hard to fill.I will be praying for the Stewart family. So long old pal until we meet again. 

On Chrsitmas Day I was at my mothers bedside as she struggled with cancer.  I was left with the hardest decision I would ever have in my life to date.  As I was contemplating this decision, Gerry just happened to call and during our conversation he made sure and reaffirmed my decision to remove my mother from life support.  This was at 6pm Christmas Night, at 11:38pm she passed away.  As my 2 sisters and myself left the hospital one of my sisters noticed someone leaning on my truck.  Well it was Gerry.  As he comes near he states "I knew you had a small family and I didn't want you to be alone" So we went to Denny's until 3am.  When we left I felt as comfortable and with peace as I have ever felt.  I just want everyone to know what type of guy he was.  He traveled 60 miles on Christmas Night, waited 5 hours then spent another 3 hours with me at Denny's. He treated me like a Brother and I love him as one.  

I too, was a benefactor of Gerry's generosity.  He helped facilitate my transfer to Local 359 and helped yet another union brother.  Gerry always fought for his members whether building trades or production and asked the best from each of us.  Even before he was manager, he was the guy out rounding up more volunteers for countless activities and held many positions of leadership too numerous to mention.

We shared many stories about working on the job, the Navy, etc and Gerry knew how to tell a story!  I shall miss his sense of humor, and his laugh.  He would love to straight-face you while he was messing with you, then give you a wink to let you off the hook.  I also admired the many custom cars he built and restored.  He was a man of many talents taken too soon.    

I had the pleasure of meeting some of his family at his Mom's funeral.   My thoughts and prayers are with them. 

The iTi will miss Gerry's valuable service to our Contest Committee and to our industry...RIP Gerry - your family is in our thoughts and prayers.

Gerry & I were partnered up at the Treasure Island in Vegas , He thought that we should share our check pool earnings if one of us Won it , So we made a pact . Well Lo& behold Gerry,( if my memory serves me correct) WON it 7 times ! Me, not once. It got to the point where I would try to sneak away so he could keep his Winnings , But he would hunt me down & at Times he would throw a Fist full of 10s & 20s thru my truck window as I was Driving by! One day he stopped me and asked me to tell him to Have a Safe Trip Home( it was something I would say every friday but I forgot this time) Gerry, You Will Be Missed & I thank you for everything you have done for me & Mine! I Hope to see you on The Other Side Because I Know where your Heading! And For The LAST Time Gerry ... Have a Safe Trip Home !    Your Buddy John Sirak ... Hey L.A.( a song Gerry would sing that he wrote )