Gerald “Jerry” Chamness, age 83 of Bourbonnais passed away Tuesday, January 26, 2021, at Riverside Medical Center in Kankakee.
Visitation will be held from 9 a.m. until 11:15 a.m. on Monday, February 1, 2021, at Clancy-Gernon Funeral Home in Bourbonnais. A funeral Mass will be held at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, February 1, 2021, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bradley. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, face masks and social distancing will be required. Burial will follow at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.
Jerry was born October 30, 1937, in Bradley, the son of Perry & Anna (Skube) Chamness. He married Frieda Hunger on February 20, 1960, at St. Patrick Catholic Church in Kankakee.
Jerry retired from General Foods/Quaker Oats, after 30 years. Most of those years he was a Production Supervisor and with the Supply Chain Group as a Commodity Coordinator.
Jerry was a veteran of the United States Navy, Aviation Branch. After being honorably discharged, he later went to Flight School and received a pilot’s license and was a former member of the Kankakee Valley Pilots Association. Jerry was a member of the Moose Lodge. He enjoyed flying, golfing, bowling, doing yard work, and loved to travel.
Jerry was a parishioner of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Bradley.
Surviving are his wife, Frieda Chamness of Bourbonnais; one daughter and son-in-law, Debra “Deb” & Donald Rantz of Beaverville; one son and daughter-in-law, Robert & Michelle Chamness of Lawton-Fort Sill, OK; two grandchildren, Sara Souligne and Katlyn Chamness; and two great-grandchildren, Kylee Souligne and Joseph Depoister. Jerry is preceded in death by his parents; three brothers, Francis “Foo” Chamness, Perry Chamness, and Delbert Chamness; one sister, Maxine Cassidy; one brother-in-law, Harold Cassity; and two sisters-in-law, Henrietta Chamness and Oletha Chamness.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
