Jerome R. Pierzina

Jerome (Jerry) Raymond Pierzina, age 76, of Hill City, MN died April 4 at home after a short and courageous battle with cancer. Memorial Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m. Thursday, April 8, 2010 at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Little Falls, MN, with Fr. Skaria Johnus Cherunilath officiating. Interment will be in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery north of Little Falls with military honors. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Jerry was born August 25, 1933 in Little Falls, MN to Theodore and Agnes (Philips) Pierzina. He graduated from Little Falls High School in 1951, joined the National Guard and then United States Army. He married Alice Pauly in 1953. They shared 56 years of marriage and raised seven children. He held various positions in the manufacturing and boating industry, and retired from the MN Department of Corrections in August, 1995. He loved to fish, hunt, travel with family and friends to his cabin in Canada, play baseball, garden, visit the North Shore, and tell jokes. He was known for his big smile and twinkly blue eyes. He was loved by all. Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Alice of Hill City; sons, Steven (Julie) and Kevin (Donna) of Hill City, MN, Gregory (Kim) of Chisholm, MN and Brian (Marlene) of Excelsior Springs, MO; daughters, Jenifer (Brian) Benes of Hill City, MN, Kristen Holm-Guith of St. Cloud, MN and Chery Pierzina of Grand Rapids, MN; brother, Ernest (Dorothy) Pierzina of Little Falls, MN; sisters, Mildred "Milly" Waltman of South St. Paul, MN, Jeanette "Jeanie" Borash of Cottage Grove, MN and MaryAnn "Sunny" Tykwinski of Cadillac, MI; sisters-in-law, Josephine Pierzina of Bovey, MN and MaryAnn "Kutzy" Pierzina of Little Falls, MN; dozens of grandchildren, step-grandchildren, great-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren and many other relatives and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents; grandchild, Amanda Pierzina; sisters, Roseline and Veronica "Nixie" Kliber and brothers, Richard and John.