Lorrie Dean Jerde

New Braunfels, Texas—Lorrie Jerde, who focused his life on rural betterment in the Red River Valley of North Dakota and Minnesota, died Monday, June 12, 2023 at Vitas Hospice in San Antonio. He was 83. Lorrie Dean Jerde was born January 19, 1940, at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Crookston, Minn. to Albert and Orpha (Berhow) Jerde. He grew up on the family farm four miles northwest of Fertile, Minn. in Liberty Township, Polk County. He focused his life on active participation in family farm operations. As a youth, he earned ribbons in 4-H and Future Farmers of America (FFA) competitions for showing Columbia sheep. As a senior class member of the Fertile-Beltrami High School FFA, he attended the National FFA Convention in the fall of 1957 in Kansas City. A high school vocational agriculture teacher encouraged Lorrie to attend North Dakota Agricultural College, now North Dakota State University, in Fargo, N.D. He participated in the generation that sought to improve agriculture through scientific methods. Lorrie earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Agriculture in 1963. While at NDSU, he was a member of the Farmer’s Union Co-Op House. On a blind date, Lorrie met his future wife, Carol Diane Nygaard. They were married the following year on July 18, 1965, at First Lutheran Church in Enderlin, N.D. They loved to go dancing and regularly attended the Eagles Club in Fargo. To this union were born three children: Jay, Ryan, and Heide. They started their family in Fargo and West Fargo, lived briefly in Steele, N.D., and resided in Hillsboro, N.D. before moving to New Braunfels in 2022. For 36 years, Lorrie worked for Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), later Rural Development, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in agriculture lending. For most of his career, he served as assistant or full county supervisor at the Traill County FmHA office in Hillsboro. He helped many farmers through the Farm Crisis of the 1980s and 1990s and received commendations from the USDA for his work. Aviation always fascinated Lorrie. He worked with the spray crews of Walters Aviation in Fertile as a summer job in college and obtained a private pilot’s license in his twenties. While in college, Lorrie joined the North Dakota Air National Guard and completed basic training at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio in the summer of 1962. He served for 25 years as a crew chief on the flight line responsible for maintaining and servicing jet aircraft, primarily T-33 trainer jets, for the 119th Fighter Interceptor Group, the “Happy Hooligans” at Hector Field in Fargo. He retired at the rank of Master Sergeant. Lorrie participated in countless organizations. He was Commander of the Lynn Spiering American Legion Post No. 4 in Hillsboro. From 1991 to 2008, he served on the Hillsboro Airport Authority, contributing many years as board secretary. He dedicated his later years as a member and officer of the Hillsboro Masonic Lodge No. 10, where he was Treasurer for many years and a Past Master. He was a Kiwanian and in his years of retirement volunteered for the Hillsboro food pantry. Lorrie was a longtime member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hillsboro. Lorrie is survived by his wife, Carol; sons Jay (Lyn), Madison, Wis., Ryan (Karla), Bristow, Va., and Heide (Doug), New Braunfels; grandchildren Alexis and Evan; brother, Jim, Crookston, Minn.; and nieces and nephews. Services will be held Wednesday, June 21 at 9:45 a.m., at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, 1520 Harry Wurzbach Rd., San Antonio. Visitation will be from 4 to 6 p.m., Tuesday, June 20 at the Lux Funeral Home, 1254 N. Business IH 35, New Braunfels. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.