Gerald Edward Amies
March 7, 1936 - May 25, 2025

Gerry Amies was born on March 7, 1936, to Arthur Edward and Jessie (Fox) Amies.  He and his five siblings grew up in a rented house in Austerfield, Yorkshire, England, where his father worked as a coal miner in the Harworth Colliery. To feed their large family, Eddie grew vegetables on an allotment, and Jessie often traded the excess to the greengrocer for supplies. Gerry's Uncle Horace Amies grew tulips. Gerry and his sister Edna sold them by the side of the road for Uncle Horace, who'd give them a few pennies at the end of the day.

Growing up, he and his brother John roamed freely doing whatever kids usually do and inventing games.  Sometimes they were lucky to find discarded things that might be useful—once a pile of old screws and nails.   He and John actually built a dresser for their Mum using those screws and nails.  After that, Gerry never threw a screw away, dutifully taking them out of any old appliance or piece of furniture before he discarded it. As a teen, he secured a job as delivery boy and helper for the local butcher, and his wife Julia can personally attest to the fact that he could make extraordinary sausage out of plain ground pork.

His parents never owned a house or car and shared one bicycle between them. Despite limited resources, Gerry and his siblings all earned advanced training—he and his brother engineering, and his four sisters teaching.

Gerry was an avid and capable gardener.  His engineering skills meant he could build or fix absolutely anything.  He loved to play tennis, ski, sail, read, and listen to music. He had a great singing voice and sang in an Anglican church choir when he was a boy, so you might already have guessed that he's been an Anglican/Episcopalian his whole life.  In his younger years, he played guitar in a rock band at an English holiday camp.

He attended Bawtry elementary and graduated from Maltby Grammar School with an emphasis in math and physics, passing his A-Levels with flying colors in the Spring of 1954.  He had a photo taken when he graduated from Maltby Grammar; just look at the hair if you get a chance.  Elvis Presley is jealously rolling over in his grave because of that ducktail!

After graduation, Gerry reported for his mandatory two years in the National Service.  They trained him in radio repair, and stationed him in Aqaba, Jordan.  The highlight of his time there was swimming in the sea, and a camping trip with his buddies to the ruins at Petra.  He was thrilled when he was lucky enough to revisit it twice during retirement.  The Monastery at Petra is a five kilometer walk down a Siq, through a long valley, and about 1,000 worn stone stairsteps up the mountainside.  It was exciting getting up there, but even more exciting (maybe not in a good way) riding donkeys down those stairsteps on the way back, especially for a man who'd never even ridden a horse.

In 1960, he earned a degree in Electrical Engineering through Luton College of Advanced Technology and in 1962 was a charter member of the English Institute of Electrical Engineers.    He worked for British Aircraft Corporation while studying for his degree, then at Staveley Research in Bedford and Mitchell Hydraulics in Woking.  But in 1968, a job opportunity with McDonnell-Douglas Aircraft arose, so he and his wife Marian immigrated to the United States.   Their children Simon and Anne-Marie were born here.

Gerry became a U. S. citizen in 1975.He worked for McDonnell-Douglas/Boeing the remainder of his career, working on the DC-10, F-4, Y/v-8B, AV-8, AV-8B (Harrier), F18, F15, and the Space Shuttle. When they needed a special part that wasn't readily available, Gerry established his own company and built the part for them.  After retirement, he continued working through his company as a consultant, engineer, inventor and designer, earning several U. S. Patents.

The Amies siblings all had wanderlust.  Jean moved to South Africa, spent her married life in Zimbabwe, and retired to Portugal.  Edna lived in Ireland, the Bahamas, Zimbabwe and South Africa.  Mollie lived in Switzerland and the United States.  John lived in Japan before returning to England.  Gillian immigrated to Canada, then New Zealand.  Nephews live in Portugal, Canada and Australia; a niece in Luxembourg. In retirement, Gerry loved traveling, experiencing new cultures and visiting his family.  He and Julia traveled in 132 countries during their marriage.

Gerry was a quiet guy; one could never describe him as a social butterfly, but he had a wicked British sense of humor and never lost his pleasant, congenial demeanor despite experiencing several strokes and the limitations which they imposed the last decade.  Gerry loved a good IPA, ice cream, stinky cheese, mussels, and Jamaican ginger beer.  He had a twinkle in his blue eyes and a ready smile for everyone.

He is survived by his wife Julia, children Anne-Marie Oelschlager (Brant) and Simon Amies (Becky); grandsons Kurt, Matthew and Lincoln Oelschlager, sisters Mollie, and Gillian, and brother John (Pat).   He was preceded in death by his parents and his older sisters Jean and Edna.

BTW, if anyone needs some used screws, Julia has buckets of them and will share!

Celebration of Life Saturday, June 28, 2025 at St. Timothy's Episcopal Church, 808 N. Mason Rd., Creve Coeur. Visitation 10:00 a.m.; Service 11:00 a.m.  Memorials may be sent to PBS Channel 9 or St. Timothy's Episcopal Church .

Ortmann Stipanovich Funeral Home
www.osfuneralhomes.com