Gerry Ersel Collinwood

Gerry Ersel Collinwood, lately of Ogden, Utah, passed away on October 12, 2024, one month shy of his 91st birthday. Gerry was born in Mesa, Arizona on November 12, 1933, the third of seven children born to George R. and Sarah Palmer Collinwood.

A graduate of El Monte High School in El Monte, California, he went on to obtain a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Oregon. He enjoyed a 33-year career as an elementary school teacher and school principal, teaching in Utah, Oregon, and California.

Between 1953 and 1955, he served in the U.S. Army in Germany. After his military service, he served for two years as a missionary for the LDS Church in the Northwestern States Mission. There, in Oregon, he met Shirley Ann Pennington whom he later married on June 21, 1958, in the Los Angeles, LDS Temple. They became the parents of seven children: Brent, David, Susan (Steve), Karen (Bill), Keith (Angie), Larry (Nancy), and Carole Ann (Charles). Gerry and Shirley have 25 grandchildren and 42 great grandchildren.

Gerry was an active member of the LDS Church, serving as a bishop, stake missionary, and in many other callings. He loved music: singing in the Southern California Mormon Choir, directing or singing in church and school choirs, and serving on the Board of the Kings County (CA) Symphony Orchestra. He also served as president of the Kings County chapter of the Association of California School Administrators. He enjoyed oil painting and gardening.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Shirley; his son, Brent; his parents; and four of his siblings, Robert, Vila, Verl, and Irel.

Funeral services will be held on Friday, October 18, 2024, at 11 a.m. at Lindquist’s North Ogden Mortuary, 2140 N. Washington Blvd. Friends may visit with family on Friday from  9:30 to 10:30  a.m. at the mortuary. Interment, Ben Lomond Cemetery, 526 East 2850 North, North Ogden. A family luncheon will be held at the Community Center at Lindquist’s Office Building, 3434 Washington Blvd.

Services will be live-streamed and available the day of the services by scrolling to the bottom of Gerry’s obituary page at: www.lindquistmortuary.com where condolences may also be shared.

The family appreciates the care given to Gerry at the Barton Creek Senior Living Center in Bountiful, Utah and the George E. Wahlin Veteran’s Home in Ogden, Utah.

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