Jerry Gause

November 7, 1937 - May 13, 2024

It is with great sadness that the family of Jerry Gause announced his death after a valiant ten-year battle with cancer. Born in Pasadena, he graduated from South Pasadena High School, attended Pasadena City College and graduated from California State University Los Angeles with an emphasis in Physical Geography and graduate work in Botany.

Jerry had a long and varied career with the Forest Service, retiring in 2002 after 40 years of service. In 1968 Jerry was assigned to San Francisco as the regional news media contact, followed by 13 years in Public Affairs, both in Washington, DC and Portland, Oregon before returning to San Francisco as manager of the Clean Air Act Program for the California region. Jerry had the privilege of temporary assignments on the Caribbean National Forest in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Hugo, and later to the Marshall Islands and Chuuk in Micronesia as a follow-up to the drought and typhoon occurrences.

Jerry married Cleoni (Cleo) Tocalino in 1974 in Novato and shortly afterwards moved to Novato, hosting summer barbeques for the Forest Service Retirees Club, as well as for other local organizations. Extended family members were always an integral part of these memorable gatherings, helping to make each event a happy time for all.

Jerry was predeceased by his parents, Gilbert and Wilhelmina Gause and is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Cleo, and his sister, Lynore Banchoff of Menlo Park. He, too, leaves behind his daughter, Anne Marie and two sons, Geoffrey (Jennifer) of Tustin, California and Philip (Olga) of Reston, Virginia, as well as six grandchildren.

Marin Independent Journal, June 9, 2024