Geraldine “Gerri” Roe

June 17, 1930 - April 25, 2019 Walnut Creek

Gerri Roe passed away peacefully after a short illness, surrounded by the love of her family and friends at her new home at Atria Valley View in Walnut Creek.

Gerri was born in Loma Linda, California to Ruth and Patrick “Kay” McCormick. She grew up with her sister Lorraine and brother Bob in West Covina. Determined to go to college, she attended Mt San Antonio Junior College before transferring to UC Berkeley where she studied social work. She married R. Richard Roe and shortly thereafter began her family. Her four children – Kathleen, Colleen, Dilan, and Kevin – were born over the next 9 years in Berkeley and then in Pittsburg, California. Shortly after Kevin was born, the family moved to Palo Alto, where Gerri built a life she loved. She was a vital presence in her Barron Park neighborhood, the churches she attended, her children’s schools and activities, the places she worked, and with her ever-growing circle of friends. She was kind, attentive, creative, resourceful, and she knew how to make things fun.

Over the course of her long and productive work life, Gerri taught herself the skills to work in jobs and settings as diverse as Stevens Fashion Fabrics, Bullock’s Department Store, Telesensory Systems, and Hopkins and Carly Law Firm. She was also a dedicated volunteer throughout her life, serving in leadership roles at church and in groups whose mission she believed in, such as Friends Outside and P-FLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gay Men). She was proud of all of her jobs, but particularly of her career as a technical writer at Sun Microsystems. At Sun, Gerri not only expertly developed user manuals for emerging technology products but also actively created community among the engineers and computer scientists in her group. She loved learning about cultures beyond her own experience and was dedicated to making everyone feel welcome and included at Sun, in the neighborhood, in our shared spaces, and in our country.

Among Gerri’s many skills and activities was her love of choral singing. In addition to church choirs, she was a member of the Peninsula Women’s Chorus for nearly 30 years. She dearly loved the music, the friendships, and the PWC adventures, including several trips to international festivals and competitions throughout Europe. She put her formidable writing skills to work on behalf of the Chorus for many years, securing thousands of dollars each year through her 15 year service on the grants committee. After retiring from PWC, she sang with the Community Women’s Chorus through December 2018.

Gerri loved nature – her garden, Yosemite, Carmel, Pescadero, Foothill Park, Bol Park and the donkeys (especially Perry). She had an adventurous spirit and a “can do” attitude – one of her favorite sayings was that she was “a definite yes!” She loved animals, joyously sharing her life and home with many dogs over the years, particularly her beloved Bonnie with whom she confidently claimed she shared mind pictures. She enjoyed hiking, camping, backpacking, skiing, tennis, and being in the water, even though she did not know how to swim! She looked forward to her daily exercise class and one mile walk up to the very last week of her life.

Of all of the things she loved in life, Gerri was most proud of her family. Looking out from her hospital bed during her last days, she exclaimed with such satisfaction and delight “We have the perfect family – women and men, gay and straight”. She is survived by her four children and their partners – Kathleen Roe and Jerry Smith, Colleen Simmie and Kevin Hall, Dilan Roe and Susie Hoskins, and Kevin Roe and Dale Gluth; her grandchildren Cameron Smith and his wife Colleen Williams, Morgan, Mackenzie, and Macgregor Simmie, and countless children she loved as her own over the years. She is also survived by her sister Lorraine Stewart, brother and sister-in-law Robert and Joanne McCormick, and their children and their families, all of whom she loved dearly.

In July 2018, Gerri made the excruciating but necessary and courageous decision to start a new life on her own. Her children would like to acknowledge the kind and caring community that embraced our mother at Atria Valley View. She quickly became part of a circle of lovely and loving people for, as her friend Jim said, “everyone knows Gerri with the sparkling eyes and beautiful smile.” Thank you to Charlotte, Gerri, Phyllis, Jim and Clay, Donna and the ladies of the Riviera Lunch Club, her dinner table friends, Ruth, Myrna and Murtis, our “sister” Lourdes, Jaena, Jill, Gina, Joanne, Chef Bruce, Eufemia and Gladys, the dining staff, the housekeeping staff, all of the resident assistants, AJ and Abby, Barry, Georgia and Cassie, Don and the True Care team and everyone who loved her as we did.

A celebration of Gerri’s life was held at Atria on Sunday, April 28. Her children will host a memorial service and gala celebration on her birthday, June 17 in Palo Alto. Her many friends, neighbors, and associates are warmly invited to contact her children at OurMomGerri@gmail.com for the time and location of the Palo Alto memorial. Donations in Gerri’s name may be made to Planned Parenthood or the Peninsula Women’s Chorus.