Gerald J. Zimmerman

Gerald Joseph Zimmerman was born on December 30, 1953, in Harlan, Iowa to Roman and Patricia (Sullivan) Zimmerman. He was one of six boys born in the family. Gerald attended school in Manilla, Iowa. Gerald left the farm in 1973 and moved to the Omaha area and started working as a cashier at a gas station in Papillion, Nebraska. Gerald bought a dump truck and was self-employed for many years. He got tired of the headaches so he went to work for Sapp Brothers driving a fuel truck. On May 26, 1984, Gerald was united in marriage to Cindy Engquist in Papillion, Nebraska. Cindy complained of the long hours Gerald was working at Sapp Brothers so he went to work for the City of Papillion in the parks and recreation department. With Cindy's job transfer Gerald and Cindy moved to Aurora, Colorado in 1990, where he went to work for the City of Aurora in the water department. Later, Gerald decided to go back to driving a truck so he went to work at LaFarge, delivering concrete. One son, Joshua Bruce, was born on December 1, 1993. Gerald devoted himself to being a wonderful father and husband. He decided to be a stay-at-home dad as Joshua was Gerald's pride and joy. Joshua was Gerald's best buddy and Gerald was Joshua's best buddy. Gerald enjoyed taking walks, hiking, and going to the mountains. He also enjoyed collecting John Deere tractors and toys. When we went on vacations and he spotted a John Deere dealership, we would have to turn around so that he could browse through the tractors and toys. Gerald suffered a stroke on February 26, 2006. He was not able to work and was not suppose to drive but he did eventually venture out to go to the store and take Joshua to school once in a while. Even though he never fully recovered, he still enjoyed tinkering with his cars and bought old snowblowers and lawn mowers and refurbished them. We ended up with seven snowblowers and three lawnmowers in the shed. On his good days he would still take care of his neighbors with snow removal and anything else he could help them with. He would give anyone the shirt off his back. Gerald touched so many lives and will be sadly missed by his wife, son, family, friends, and neighbors. Gerald died on Saturday, December 8, 2007, at his home having attained the age of fifty-three years, eleven months, and eight days. He is preceded in death by his parents. He is survived by his wife, Cindy and his son, Joshua both of Aurora, Colorado; his brothers: Joe Zimmerman of Catoosa, Oklahoma; James Zimmerman of Gardner, Kansas and Elmer Zimmerman of La Canada, California; his mother-in-law Irene Engquist of Omaha, Nebraska; sisters-in-law Shelley and her husband Tom Leal of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Tammy Engquist of Omaha, Nebraska; nieces, nephews, other family members, and many friends. A visitation was held on Friday, December 14, 2007 from 5PM to 7:30PM at Horan & McConaty Funeral Home, 11150 E. Dartmouth Ave. (Parker Rd.) Aurora, CO 80014. Father John Dorton celebrated A Mass of Christian Burial, Tuesday, December 18, 2007 at St. Boniface Catholic Church in Westphalia, IA at 1:30PM. Burial followed in the church cemetery. Serving as casket bearers were: James Bruno, Mike Zimmerman, Blake Engquist, Ray Zimmerman, Glen Zimmerman, and Corey Engquist. Pauley Jones Funeral Home in Harlan was in charge of the arrangements. A memorial fund has been set up to help the Zimmerman family with the their memorial, travel and other expenses. All donations are greatly appreciated and are being accepted at any 1st Bank location. Checks made out to FRAHA, Gerry Zimmerman Memorial Fund can be mailed to: 1st Bank of Arapahoe County PO Box 4667 Englewood, CO 80155-9937