Jerry's Story

Jerry’s Cancer Journey  

Looking through the lens of Jerry's older brother and only sibling, John, you can get a sense of what Jerry's cancer journey was for him and his family in the brief summary below:

I was 12 years old when Jerry was born on June 30, 1966, in Kettering, Ohio. Jerry was always a fun-loving little kid, becoming a good swimmer and fisherman while I played baseball and tennis. Our 12-years difference in age was almost a generation apart. Jerry had just turned 9 years old when I got married. My wife was Catholic, and I decided to convert to Catholicism shortly before we were married. Jerry later became like a big brother to our daughters.  After high school and college, Jerry worked for a few years and then he found the love of his life, Rita. Rita was Catholic as well and Jerry later converted to become a Catholic. Jerry worked in computer security at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Jerry & Rita raised a daughter, Kiersten, and son Keenan. During the years of work and raising children, our families would get together for birthdays and all the major holidays. It wasn’t until I retired in April 2020 that my wife and I started meeting Jerry & Rita for lunch after church each week. We also started going out to dinner once per month on average. Life was good and we always enjoyed getting together for our lunch and dinner dates as well as both of our families getting together. Jerry always enjoyed his Spring trip with his buddies to the Maumee River to do some fishing. He also enjoyed taking his family to Deer Creek State Park to do some fishing and boating. 

I will never forget the day Jerry called me when we were on vacation in South Carolina in early October, 2022 – when he told me the devastating news. He said he had been in the hospital all week with severe abdominal pain. They told him it looks like he has pancreatic cancer. After hanging up with Jerry, my wife and I completely broke down. How could this happen to my little brother?  We could not even imagine how devastating that was for Jerry and his family. The next week he went to the James Cancer Center at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. They confirmed the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer and told him that without treatment he may live 6 months and with treatment he may live about a year. So, even with a “death sentence” Jerry was not going to go down without a fight. Jerry’s family set-up a Caring Bridge Account so that family members and friends could follow his journey.

Jerry received his chemo treatments through a very caring oncologist close to home and was being followed by the James Cancer Center in Columbus. After some research Jerry and Rita found the Pan Can Network through Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As long as Jerry’s treatments were going ok, and his scans were positive they would continue the current treatment regimen. Jerry continued working for about the first 10 months and he was able to work from home. I took Jerry out to lunch whenever he felt well enough and had the time. His chemo regimen called for treatment every 2 weeks. He usually felt ok in the week of treatment but the week after was not good. Often times we would go to lunch the day of his treatment or the day after. If you are a caretaker or family member of someone going through their own cancer journey take the time to look for some of the small miracles granted by God. An example of that happened on the last time I took Jerry to lunch just a few weeks before he passed away. When I went over to pick him up, he was in excruciating pain. I told Jerry that we can skip having lunch or if he was up to it I could bring some lunch back to his home. As he was bent over the kitchen counter he said to me that he wants to get out to lunch and he would force himself to go. I tried again to sway him not to go out but he insisted. So, I was very nervous about taking him out but we drove to Frisch's for lunch and walked very slowly into the restaurant. Fortunately, there was no wait and we were taken to a booth towards the back of the restaurant. When Jerry sat down, he looked around and said, I feel no pain at all. That was a big relief and we were able enjoy a meal together and talk for 2 hours. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about that time and I thank God for providing Jerry that little reprieve from any suffering. That was our miracle from God.

After 8 or 10 months they had to change the chemo drug as the cancer developed a resistance to the current treatment. That is when Jerry started looking into either targeted therapy or a trial for new treatment methods. One thing Jerry never lost was hope. His goal was to become a long-term survivor so that he could help other people. He was approved to start a trial treatment in January of 2024 but the cancer was moving fast at that point.

Unfortunately, becoming a long-term survivor was not meant to be. Jerry passed away on January 9, 2024 after a 15-month battle with pancreatic cancer. Jerry always put others ahead of himself. After finding out about Jerry purchasing comfort crosses online and distributing them and talking to patients at the infusion clinic where he received his chemo, John wanted to carry on Jerry's legacy with providing  comfort crosses to cancer patients and other  people suffering from serious medical issues.  John purchased some comfort crosses from a few different companies. As a family, we settled on a company located in Bethlehem, West Bank near Jerusalem. After distributing about 70 comfort crosses, Jerry's Comfort Cross Ministry was born, The purpose for the ministry is to continue Jerry’s legacy of providing comfort crosses and prayer to those suffering and being treated for cancer in the hopes of leading them to become disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Donations made to Jerry's Comfort  Cross Ministry through The Dayton Foundation will fund the comfort crosses and provide money for pancreatic cancer research as well as for other adult and pediatric cancers. The foundation will allow us to continue his legacy on a much larger scale than just the local infusion clinic where Jerry received his chemo treatments. Jerry truly did find great comfort with his comfort cross and held on to it tight during the times he struggled and prayed for God’s mercy and grace. He opened his heart to Jesus in such a way that it was very moving to those who knew him best.