Gerald N. Daggett

Gerald was the second son of Floyd and Olga Daggett born in 1931. He lost his father at the age of four, and along with his older brother, Gordon, did his best to help support the family from an early age during the Depression. As he grew older he had many different interests and occupations which included everything from paper routes, baking doughnuts at the local bakery when he was twelve, working at A&P grocery and eventually at E.I. DuPont where he eventually retired from after 43 years of service.

Gerald also served in the army during the Korean war from 1951-1953. He had numerous different postings but landed as a corporal in the 500th AAA OCHS regiment operating radar for anti-aircraft artillery batteries in Alaska at the ripe age of 21. He served until the end of the war and eventually returned to Toledo to resume work at DuPont and start another series of adventures which included flying lessons, buying a farm and a series of Buick convertibles which he used to transport his friends and livestock. He also loved music and tried his hand playing the drums, harmonica and banjo over time while listening to his favorites of Johnny Cash and ABBA.

His life went on this way until 1969 when he met the love of his life Joan. It didn't take long until they were married in Jan. of 1970, and he now had a family. His spirit never changed though as his love for the outdoors and travelling continued with annual hunting trips and vacations that took him to all fifty states, the provinces in Canada, the Caribbean, and Europe to say a few. He did his best to instill the love of the outdoors and travel with his three sons who each took to it in their own way. However, his greatest love was always his family, especially Joan. They were never apart in their 53 years together and had an amazing time exploring the country and raising their family.

He had a great deal of talents, but without a doubt his biggest was living and then being able to be a master storyteller about his life. There has never been a family gathering that didn't have one or more outlandish stories that you could not believe, but still knew to be true. Without a question he lived his whole life right up to end at 92 years old. And the stories he liked to tell the most as he got older were the ones about his sons and their families. In fact, there was never a visit with him that did not include those stories and the pictures, movies or videotapes to back them up. Over the years he developed an ability to capture so many great moments of the family over time whether it was with his 35mm, 8mm or video camera that would likely have otherwise been lost in time. Holidays, birthdays, graduations, vacations and kids' games have all been saved because of what he did to make sure they would be there for everyone to watch when the time came.

For those of us who are left behind it is difficult to imagine a time when we won't be able to use just the right words to launch him on a series of stories that even though we know them, we would still listen as if it was the first time we heard them. So it has now fallen upon us to keep those stories and continue to tell them as well as we can to keep them alive so that people can continue to know who Jerry was… He was always a strong and proud man who deeply loved his family, where even at the end of his life his only concerns were the best interests of his wife, Joan and of his family.

He is preceded in death by his parents, Floyd and Olga Daggett, his brother Gordon and sister-in-law Mary Daggett, his beloved grandson Jerry Gross as well as many other family and friends. However, he is followed in life by his wife Joan, his three sons and their families Ron and Sue Gross, Greg and Denise Gross, and Chris and Torri Daggett. This family also includes six amazing grandchildren: Niki, Ronnie, Brittany, Colton, Mitchell and Cassandra along with six great grandchildren who will continue to cherish the time that they had with him.

Rest In Peace, Gerald Norman Daggett.

To share a memory of Gerald or to leave a special message for his family, please click the "Share Memories" tab above.