Jerry Glover South

December 1, 1932 - December 29, 2022

Jerry South was born in Frankfort, Kentucky, and died peacefully in his sleep from congestive heart failure triggered by COVID, which he contracted the last two days of his life. Up until then he had lived a long, full, and active life.

Jerry was a seventh generation Kentuckian who grew up on a centennial family farm in the bluegrass area of the state. His agrarian roots established a lifelong love of gardening, composting soil, and concern for the environment. As a high school student, Jerry was particularly active in Frankfort High School as a debater, a member of a prize winning Barbershop Quartet and as captain of his football team. He leaves behind beloved family who live not far from Frankfort.

Jerry attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, on a scholarship. He received his BA in Economics in three years. He attended W&L Law School for one year and then went into the Navy as a Lieutenant JG aboard the battleship New Jersey. He served during the Korean War. Fortunately, his tour of duty was in the Mediterranean. This experience piqued Jerry’s curiosity about other cultures and started his yen for travel.

After retiring from the Navy, Jerry went to Stanford Law School, graduating in three years with an LLB in 1958. Then he joined the Law Department of the Bank of America in San Francisco. He practiced civil law specializing in bankruptcy and trial work. He was admitted to the bars in California, Kentucky and the Supreme Court.

Jerry left the active practice of law when he was offered the chance to be Corporate Secretary for the Bank of America. He continued to work for the Bank for the next 30 years in various capacities: Assistant to the President, Head of Corporate Communications, and finally as President of B.A. Mortgage and International Reality Corporation. He was President for about 15 years, overseeing 13 offices in the USA in 10 different states. He often visited these offices in order to build an esprit de corps in his company.

Jerry married Marilyn Page, whom he met at Stanford. They married in 1960 and lived in San Francisco for 13 years before moving to Mill Valley in Marin County; they lived there for over 40 years. Jerry and Marilyn had three daughters, Lindsay, Alison, and Marian. Their family grew as their daughters and sons-inlaw had eight grandchildren, and a great granddaughter. Jerry and Marilyn also happily acquired three granddaughters through the marriage of their eldest daughter.

In 1976, Jerry attended the Harvard School of Advanced Management for three months. He thoroughly enjoyed the case study approach of the business schools’ professors. Jerry retired from the Bank in 1988 and began work as a residential and commercial real estate broker for 12 years before eventually settling into full retirement.

Jerry was an avid outdoor enthusiast all his life. One of his main hobbies was hiking. He and Marilyn led Sierra Club domestic and international outings for 47 years. He particularly loved hiking in Norway and the

Alps in France and Italy. In N. California favorite local trails Jerry loved were at Sea Ranch, where he and Marilyn have had a second home for almost 40 years. Desolation Valley near Lake Tahoe and Yosemite were beloved destinations for countless hiking and backpacking adventures.

Jerry also loved downhill skiing and running. After work, he would run nightly around Cascade Canyon, completing his hilly threemile loop. On weekends, he would train for running the Dipsea Race in the hills of Mt. Tamalpais. He solicited his daughters to run with him to improve his time. Jerry ran the 7 1/2 mile strenuous Dipsea every June for 12 years.

In the winter, Jerry and Marilyn enjoyed downhill skiing at Lake Tahoe. Jerry also traveled to CO with friends, where he skied the Rockies. He skied well into his seventies as a “Super Senior.”

Another sport he loved, especially later in his life, was bocce. He traveled to Italy to learn how to play. For 20 years, Jerry played in teams on the San Rafael courts. He competed in lots of local and national tournaments, winning medals many times. Three times, he was the manager of the Women’s National Bocce USA Teams, when they played in Argentina, China and Italy. He was also President of the US Bocce Federation’s Western Sector for three years.

Jerry had a sharp mind and pursued many intellectual interests. He loved studying and speaking Italian. He went to the University of Perugia for three months to study the language. He also loved reading histories of all sorts: 19th century mountaineering adventures; Louis and Clark dairies; Viking tales and anything about prehistoric man. He read and studied everything written by William Faulkner.

Jerry was deeply committed to volunteerism in every community in which he lived. In addition to his contributions to the Sierra Club as Outing Committee Chairman and to the bocce world, Jerry served as a Trustee at Washington and Lee for 12 years and was instrumental in the college’s transition to coeducation. In 2014, Jerry and Marilyn moved to Villa Marin in San Rafael. He was on the Board of Directors there for three years as Treasurer and one year as President. He was also a member of Belvedere’s St. Stephen’s Church, where he was a dishwasher extraordinaire on a refreshment committee.

A Celebration of Life ceremony will be held in early March. Jerry, as patriarch of his large family, will be deeply missed. In lieu of flowers, the family would like any donation you may care to make in his name be given to Marin Bocce, 550 B Street, San Rafael, CA 94901. There is also a donation button on the website: www.marinbocce.org.