Jerry L. Strohm

Jerry L. Strohm, age 78, passed away suddenly in his home in La Crosse, WI, on June 18, 2015.
The son of Carl Dean and Mary Olive Strohm, he was born on January 9, 1937, at his maternal grandmother’s home in rural West Union, IL. He was loyal in love to his West Union extended family and fortunate in the role models that the family, Brick Methodist Church and the community presented. His parents encouraged his interest in sports and in furthering his education. He was a member of the Marshall High relay team that went to state and set a record that stood for 40 years, and went on to run track at U of Illinois. As graduation from Marshall High School in 1955 approached, he had the goal to graduate from SMU (because that was where Doak Walker played football) or the University of Illinois, where his uncle John Strohm’s path had led him. He chose the University of Illinois in nearby Champaign, where one of his professors noticed that he had an aptitude for genetics and suggested he pursue graduate work in that field. He earned a Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1966 but in 1964 began work as an assistant professor of biology at what became the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. A humble man, he felt a debt of gratitude to the universities that educated him and to Bjarne Ullsvik for hiring him. He dedicated his life to UW-P for 34.91 years, to his family, to serving his church, (Platteville United Methodist Church), and to community service, such as serving for 12 years on the board of the Platteville School District.

He was preceded in death by his parents, aunts and uncles, grandson Jamie and son-in-law, Richard Waelchli. He will live on in the hearts of his sister, Linda (Hal), his brothers, Jack (Phyllis) and Scott (Diane).and Barbara, his wife of 38 years, his daughters, Sandra (Brock) Chalmers, Melanie Waelchli, Janet (Brian) Ness, his son, Steve, and his step-daughter, Brooke (Ron) Kramer; his grandchildren, Sara (Justin), Christopher, Derek (Heather), Justin (Jackie), Jonathan, Scott, Robert and Evan, and great-grandchildren, Ethan and Landon; loving nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers- and sisters-in-law. “They are not dead who live in lives they leave behind. In those whom they have blessed, they live a life again.”

A private service for the family will be held at First Congregational United Church of Christ on June 23, with the Rev. Tom Uphaus officiating. Interment of his remains will take place at a later date. The family is grateful for the support that students from the Departments of Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Clinical Exercise Physiology at UW-La Crosse provided Jerry during his years in La Crosse, as well as to the many friends from Platteville who visited him and to the new friends he made in La Crosse. In lieu of sending flowers, those wishing to acknowledge his passing may wish to consider donations to the churches or institutions of education he so valued.