Jerry Hay
April 8, 1955 – Sept. 5, 2025
Jerry Don Hay, 70, of Sweet Home, passed away on Sept. 5, 2025, at Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis.
Jerry was born on April 8, 1955, in Yankton, S.D., to John Neil Hay, Sr. and LaVern Frances (Daniels) Hay.
He was the second born of their six children. Jerry lived in South Dakota, New York, Arizona, and California, before the family settled in Sweet Home in the summer of 1965.
Jerry graduated from Sweet Home High School in 1973. While in high school he competed on the swimming team.
Following high school, Jerry attended both Southern Oregon State College (now SOU) and Linn-Benton Community College.
During summer breaks, Jerry fire watched for Willamette Industries and also helped build forest roads as a way to earn money for college.
Through that work, he came to know the surrounding woods like the back of his hand. He could take you anywhere you wanted to go up in the hills surrounding the Sweet Home area.
Ultimately, Jerry decided not to pursue a college degree. He went to work for Tomco Mill, followed by Willamette Industries, Weyerhaeuser, and Murphy, where he retired in 2018.
Through the knowledge he gained in his early work life, Jerry knew the timber roads well, and that knowledge came in handy while hunting.
He knew the places to go and how to get there. Jerry was an avid hunter and had many mounted deer racks to show for it. In his younger years, he did a lot of steelhead, salmon, and trout fishing.
In 2002, at a barbecue at the home of mutual friends, Jerry met Bev Gaskey. That chance meeting turned into a 23-year love story which resulted in their marriage on Aug. 20, 2016.
Jerry is survived by his wife, Bev; and the two daughters he never knew he wanted: step-daughters Leslie Anderson (Zack Graber), and Jenna Anderson (Jake Jeppson); grandchildren Justin Graber, Emma Graber, and Mason Flores; brother Jim (Lori) and sister Danielle Hanscam (Steve), all of Sweet Home; brother Scott (Gretchen) of Mount Angel; sister-in-law Kathy Hay of Sweet Home; sister-in-law Angie Houck Hay of Prineville; brother-in-law Larry Gaskey of Sweet Home; and many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, and great-nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, John (2013) and LaVern (2018) Hay; his in-laws, Sonny (2004) and Maggie (2003) Gaskey; brothers John (2019) and Clark (2024); and nephew Casey Hanscam (2015).
A celebration of Jerry’s life will be held at a later date.
Sweet Home Funeral Chapel is handling the arrangements.