Obituary of Gerald E Eppel

Age 84, died Feb. 9, 2016, after a hard fought battle with heart and kidney disease. Preceded in death by parents, Claude and Henrietta; brothers, Claude Jr., Robert and Ronald and sister, Joan McCabe. Jerry is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Joyce; son, Michael (Ruth); daughters, Sharon (Joe) Berglund, Diane (Mike) Gaikowski and Susie Oberstar (Brian Peter); 7 grandchildren; 5 great-grandchildren; many loving nieces and nephews; 2 wonderful sister-in-laws; great aunt, Kit, and many cherished friends. For over 20 years, Jerry owned Dixie Cream Donuts in Minneapolis. He also worked at Wild Wings Art Gallery for many years and enjoyed selling art and working with the artists and customers. Jerry was a talented artist himself and the founder of Granddaddy Bait Co. and GEE Daddy Lures. His talent to carve and paint fishing lures, unique “one of a kind” mystical fish, spearing decoys, turtles and totem poles was amazing. Jerry was an avid collector of antiques, vintage books and advertising, Red Wing Crocks, historical paintings and unique finds – a true “American Picker.” A memorial Mass of Christian burial will be held to celebrate Jerry’s life and his many talents at St. Richard’s Church, 7540 Penn Ave. S., Richfield, MN on Thursday, Feb. 18th. Visitation will be at 10 AM and memorial mass at 11 AM. Memorials in lieu of flowers are preferred to Bridge of Life/DaVita Village Trust, St. Richard’s Church or YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities. A special thank you to the doctors and nurses of DaVita in Bloomington and MN Vascular in Edina for taking such great care of Jerry over the last 10 yrs.