Jerry Edward Edmondson

Jerry Edward Edmondson, 87, of Raytown, Missouri, died peacefully on February 15, 2026.

He was born in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1938 to Helen Louise Truce (Conley) Edmondson and Wallace E. Edmondson. He was fortunate to have a younger sister, Judy, join the family soon after his arrival.

Jerry had many happy childhood memories filled with unsupervised adventures with neighborhood friends, pleasant meals with adoring grandparents, and interesting stories, including riding streetcars to get around town when his father joined the service and sold the family car, as well as being an early adopter of electronics as a young man with a ham radio set.

Jerry graduated in 1956 from East High School in Kansas City, where he began dating the love of his life, Betty Sue Williams, when they were barely fifteen. Excited to start their new lives together, the two were married on July 3rd, 1958, at Kensington Baptist Church, where both had grown up.

Jerry had several jobs after high school, including a stint at the U.S. Post Office, before joining the Naval Air Reserves for eighteen months. Upon returning from service, he was hired at Western Electric in Lee’s Summit, MO, in 1962, where he eventually became a Quality Assurance supervisor and made many lifelong friends before his retirement in 1993. While working at Western Electric, he attended night school for nine years at Rockhurst College, earning his Bachelor of Business Administration with a minor in Industrial Relations in 1973.

Jerry had a curiosity and natural aptitude for technology that kept him busy with many hobbies over the years, including an early version of a computer bought from Radio Shack, through more recent models, various video gaming systems, several generations of cameras and videocams, and even searching through microfilm for genealogy files before the internet helped make that task less tedious. His excitement about learning in technology was another way he was able to bond with his grandchildren–by gifting them gaming systems when he wanted the newer models. The makeshift darkroom he had in the basement for a time was just another example of his ability to fuse his interests with whatever gadgets were available at the time.

Upon retiring, Jerry and Betty spent many years traveling the United States in their RV and attending their five grandchildren’s various school events. Their active support of their children and grandchildren is a legacy that will never be forgotten and forged remarkably close connections between them and their family.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents and sister, and is survived by his wife, Betty Sue Edmondson of Raytown, Missouri, his daughter, Susan (Vernon) Edmondson-Gerke of Columbia, and his son, Derrick Edmondson of Overland Park, Kansas; his grandchildren, Samantha Gerke of Columbia, Missouri, Brenna (John) Kiburz of Brentwood, Missouri, Levi (Sammy) Gerke of Toulouse, France, Kylie Edmondson of Kansas City, Missouri, and Malachi Gerke of Columbia, Missouri; and his great-grandchild, Ezra Kiburz of Brentwood, Missouri; and treasured extended family and friends.

A special thanks to the nurses and staff at The Rehabilitation Center of Independence for their exceptional care and love during Jerry’s time with them and to ACG Hospice for their compassion and expertise.

Per Jerry’s request, there will be no formal funeral, as he wanted to keep things simple.

However, if anyone feels so inclined, in lieu of flowers, please make online gifts in memory of Jerry Edmondson to the dementiasociety.com.