Gerald V. Kerr, age 77 of rural Orangeville, IL, passed away after a long battle with cancer on Friday January 1, 2021 at his home surrounded by his family.  He was born on November 20, 1943 in Freeport, IL, the son of Norman and Marie (Voss) Kerr. Gerald married Connie Burkholder on December 30, 1962 at the Church of the Brethren in Lanark, IL. He farmed alongside Connie for more than 40 years.  In April of 2008, Gerald started working for Studer Super Service, which is now known as Hennessey Implement, in Monroe, WI, and he retired in April of 2018.

Gerald was a member of the Orangeville School Board, Midwest Dairymen Board, and the Orangeville Country Swinger Square Dance Club.  He liked antique tractors, and anything antique.  He was a jokester who enjoyed woodworking, golfing in his younger years, and attending steam engine shows.  For 47 years Gerald and Connie played cards with the Farmer 500 Card Club.

Gerald is survived by his wife of 58 years, Connie; children- Diane (Ron Kruse) Watson, Cindy Wells, Denise (Scott) Robieson, Jeffrey (Kathleen) Kerr all  of Orangeville, and Tammy (Dennis) Rakowska of McConnell; 11 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren and two more on the way; his mother Marie Kerr of Freeport, IL; brother and sisters Eugene (Kay) Kerr, Barbara (Clark) Smith, and Juleen (Steven) Fellows, sister-in-law Betty Carroll, brothers-in-law Keith (Lillian) Burkholder, and Ray Burkholder; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his father Norman, his maternal and paternal grandparents, and his mother and father-in-law Helen and Ralph Burkholder.

Private family services will be held at the Cramer-Leamon Funeral Home in Orangeville.

Burial will be at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Freeport.

A memorial has been established in his memory.