Gerard H. "Jerry" Pesman
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A7 - June 18, 2003
Ski Pioneer Gerard Jerry Pesman dead at age 77
Gerard H. "Jerry" Pesman, a member of the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame, died in his Boulder home of cancer June 10. He was 77 years old.
Born Aug. 9, 1925 in Denver to Elizabeth Hyde and M. Walter Pesman, he married and later divorced Mary Smith, who preceded him in death. In 1975, he married Nancy Cary in Boulder.
After graduation from South High School in Denver, Jerry worked on the Alaska Highway in 1942 and saw active duty as a member of the U.S. Army's 37th Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. After the war, he received engineering degrees, first from the University of Colorado and then the University of Washington.
Pesman was very involved with skiing throughout his life, spending many winters skiing and working in Sun Valley, Idaho. He was instrumental in the development of many of Colorado's ski areas, including Telluride, Vail, Copper Mountain and Keystone. Pesman organized the Masters Ski Racing Program in Colorado and New Mexico in the 1970s and 1980s. He was inducted into the Colorado Ski Hall of Fame in 1999.
Pesman enjoyed skiing, tennis, scuba diving and hiking, successfully climbing all 54 of Colorado's fourteeners.
He is survived by: his wife, Nancy of Boulder; his sister, Josephine Chanaud of Prescott, Ariz.; daughters Nancy Edgington of Grand Junction, Jill-Pesman-Lambeck of Steamboat Springs, Diane Pesman of Girdwood, Alaska, and Kristin Pesman of Vashon Island, Wash.; three stepchildren, Heidi Nadiak of Montrose, Scott Cary of Seattle and Kirsten Cary of Boulder; and 11 grandchildren.
A celebration of Jerry's life will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at the Meadows Club, 5555 Racquet Ln., in Boulder.
Memorial contributions may be made to The Colorado Ski Museum; P.O. Box 1976, Vail, CO, 81658, or to HospiceCare of Bouder and Broomfield Counties, 2594 Trailridge Dr. East, Suite A, Lafayette, CO 80026.
M.P. Murphy & Associates Funeral Directors of Lafayette is in charge of arrangements.
