Obituary of Jerry A. Palinsky

To view video tribute online, click link below: http://videos.lifetributes.com/?id=3585 Jerry was born in Frankfurt Germany to Jerry A Palinsky Sn, and Kathleen Karen Hess on September 27 1963. His father was in the USAF and eventually ended up in Tacoma, Washington throughout his toddler and teenagers days. He graduated from Franklin Pierce in Tacoma, and was a body builder, wrestler, ice hockey player, but his passion was football. He received a scholarship to play for Walla Wall Washington, and then was asked to play for Oregon State University, in Corvallis Oregon. That is where our journey began. I met him in September 1984 in a college hang out called "Suds and Suds", a place where you could do your laundry and eat pizza and have a cold drink all at the same time. From the very first time we were introduced, we knew we had met our soul mates. Jerry was a defensive Linebacker, for Oregon State University, and to this day holds the university's record for the most dead weight ever lifted! His name remains on the gold placers in the university's footballs weight room! We dated throughout college, and married on May 2 1987. I then left for Korea, while he worked on his degree, played ball and was a bouncer at a biker bar on the side. Soon after I left, he decided to join the Army, and place college on hold. He went into the Army in November 1987, as a PFC, and excelled in Basic, Advanced Individual Training, Platoon Leadership Development Course, and graduated top in his class in 1990 from the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare School. He went into the United States Army Reserves (USAR) and was assigned to North Fort in support of any psycops training that was required by Ft Lewis units. Upon returning from Korea I was married to a SP4 Palinsky! We lived off of 72ND Ave, in Tacoma and he begin working for Kaiser Aluminum in Fife, WA. He loved that job, it was also a very dangerous one, maneuvering huge 1 ton pots of boiling aluminum, and guiding them into various molds for equipment. Jerry remained in the USAR, and made SGT. On May 17, 1990 our first child, Jerry Almon Palinsky the III was born at the old Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC). This gentle of a giant, was a wonderful father, and remained a great husband and supporter. He changed many dirty diapers, and played with his son, eye to eye! Then on July 13, 1991, we had our second child, Adina Desiree Marie Palinsky, and again a proud Papa, as his kids referred to him, stood by and nurtured both children as well as taking care of me. Jerry got out of the reserves in 1996, because I asked him to, I needed more help with the kids and I was AD Captain at that time, so he very understand did, to make it easier on his kids and me. But he never got lost the desire to be in that patriotic environment. We then left for Fort Sam Houston Texas, and he begin working on his degree, in Psychology. We were only their for 10 months, so he completed what courses he could, in between taking care of the kids, then we were assigned to Ft Hatch, AZ, in 1995. In AZ he worked for the Family Advocacy Program and the Army Community Service. He then begin college at the University of Phoenix, and received his first Masters degree in Organizational Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. While we were in AZ he coached T-Ball for both his children’s teams, was the President of the Ft Huachuca Volunteer Support Group, and the Co-Chair for the Share America Program Advisory Board, the CPCA Education Committee for Schools Project, Domestic Violence Specialist, and the Prevention of Child Abuse. We then were assigned to Aberdeen Proving Grounds in 1997. He worked as a Behavioral Health Service Director for Henry M. Jackson Foundation/US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. Again working hand in hand with policies to enable our soldiers to deal with combat stress, had enormous input on health intervention programs, and provided data for the Suicide Prevention Manual for the Department of Defense (DOD) and Chaplain core. We then came back home, Ft Lewis in 2001, and he was the Administration Officer for the Adult Primary Care Clinic at Madigan Army Medical Center. He then went on to get his 2ND Masters in Health Administration through Chapman University. He continued to be involved in our church as part of the Men’s Bible groups, he continued to volunteer to serve meals to the homeless, visit children in orphanages, donate his time/money to helping the elderly do repairs in their homes, or drive them to medical appointments. He always was putting someone else’s needs in front of his that was his nature. Jerry in 2002 changed jobs and helped build the Lowe’s on Martin Way; he became the Mill Works Manager and supervisor in other areas of the store. Hen then met a retired special forces friend in the PX, that offered him a job that he had for many years held deep in his heart, to go help support our men and women in uniform as a civilian contractor in Iraq. I was getting ready to retire after 28 years, and was confident, the kids and I would be fine for the first 3-6 month contract he signed on for. He took his assigned leaves and we traveled Greece, Mexico, Turkey, and DuBuy. But soon, his 6 month contract turned into almost 3 years working for Cochise Consultancy, contracted by the Dpt of the Army Corps of Engineers. He was providing engineering, management, logistics, and security support to the Multi-National Coalition Iraq Ordnance and Explosive Efforts in the Captured Enemy Ammunition Project. The last time he was home was March 30-April 13, 2006. We had a wonderful, memorable visit with friends and family. He didn’t want to go anywhere, just stay home. He went to school with his kids, went to their track meets, and fast pitch games, ate at his favorite restaurants, and slept peacefully in his Big Lazy Boy. Relaxed in his Jacuzzi, and laughed and watched cartoons with his kids. He was at peace with God, and he is home now in heaven. He was a mountain of a man, and will always be remembered as such. We love and miss him. Jerry is survived by his loving wife of 23 years, E.J.; son, Jerry; daughter, Adina all of Dupont, WA; father, Jerry A Palinsky Sr. of WA; mother, Kathleen Hoke of OR; 7 siblings, Linda, Roy, Patty, Charlie, Kara, Joel, and Jason. Memorial Service to be held 4:00 PM May 28, 2006 at Main Post Chapel on Fort Lewis. Arrangements by Edwards Memorial Center 253-566-1008