- Date Of Birth: September 26, 1934
- Date Of Death: December 24, 2022
- State: Minnesota
Jerry Allen Lamp, age 88, was born September 26, 1934 in Sioux City, Iowa to Arthur and Clara (Jensen) Lamp. He died December 24, 2022 at Pathstone in Mankato.
Jerry and his parents moved to Emerson, Nebraska where they lived until he was 10 when they moved to Lubbock, Texas for one year before returning to Emerson. At the age of 12, they relocated to Wayne, Nebraska where he graduated from Wayne High School in 1952. He enrolled at Wayne State Teachers College until 1955 when he entered the army. After he was honorably discharged in 1957 he returned to Wayne State for one year before transferring to Mankato State College. While at Mankato State he worked part time at Madsen’s Super Value before graduating in December of 1958.
In August of 1958 he reluctantly went on a blind date where he met Melva Ganzel of Mankato. They were married on December 27, 1958. Thanks, Jean and Ken, Melva and Jerry agreed that arranging that blind date was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for them.
After graduating from Mankato State, Jerry worked for Madsen’s in Waseca. In 1963 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the University of Southern California where he earned his Master’s Degree in Food Distribution. He returned to the retail food business but in 1965 he joined the Green Giant Company (later Pillsbury) in Le Sueur where he held various positions in the Distribution Department. Upon his retirement in 1990 he and Melva moved to their lake home in Nevis, Minnesota. Time in Nevis was spent working on their home on Lake Belle Taine, volunteering with the DNR, church projects, hunting, fishing, and making saw dust in his work shop. In 2007 he and Melva moved back to the Mankato area.
Jerry was preceded in death by his parents and is survived by his wife, Melva, sons Stuart of Mapleton, Michael (Jael) of Barnet, Vermont, and Bradley (Lisa) of Henderson. Grandson Jackson Lamp of Seattle, Granddaughters Chandra (Daniel) Williams-Lamp of Eugene Oregon, Anika Lamp of Chicago and Amanda Lamp of Fargo, his sister Julie Reed of Mission Viejo, California and many nieces and nephews.
