Jerome Melvin Liefert

life story

Loving Husband, Son, Father and Grandfather

Our dear father, Jerry, passed away at Noon on Monday August 22, 2022 at the age of 89.

Jerome Melvin Liefert was born on June 19, 1933 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was the fifth child of six children born to Alma (nee Beiswanger) and Frederick Liefert. His parents divorced and he grew up in poverty during the Great Depression.

But, with an iron will forged in the fires of fear and desperation, Jerry lived a life in determination not to be defined by or destroyed by the difficult circumstances of his childhood.

When he was 13, he won a paperboy folding and delivery contest. But instead of accepting what would be a dream prize for most children -- a Shetland pony -- Jerry instead took the alternate prize of $150, which would adjust to more than $2,200 in today's money. He used these funds to buy supplies and clothes for school and he gave the remainder to his Mother to buy food for his brothers and sisters.

Later, he volunteered to serve in the 442nd Infantry Regiment, the peacekeeping force of the US Army deployed to Tokyo after General MacArthur had accepted the surrender of the Empire of Japan on the US Missouri in Tokyo Bay, ending World War II in the Pacific.

Upon his Honorable Discharge as a Private First Class, Jerry used the GI bill to attend the University of Minnesota and to become a successful chemical engineer. He worked for the 3M Company for a number of years, and then for the state government of Minnesota where he served as an environmental engineer until he retired in 1998.

In March of 1962, he married Mary Teresa Grehan, of Cloonacool, Ireland.

Though successful in a worldly sense, he never forgot the pain and vulnerability of his childhood. This created a special place in his heart for the weak and the vulnerable. He had a deep affection for the Chippewa and the Dakota Sioux Native American tribes of Minnesota to which he made regular donations of a variety of resources.

He was a faithful husband to Mary and a devoted father to my sister, Sheila, and to me throughout his life.

He struggled mightily with loneliness for the 12 years since his wife, and my mother, Mary -- his 'Irish Angel' as he lovingly referred to her-- passed away in 2010. But he never gave up on the faith, and, as we all must, sought God's forgiveness for the transgressions of his life.

Sheila and I were at his side when he passed.

We are comforted in the knowledge that he left us with a Blessed Scapular on his chest, with the prayers of so many friends and relatives, and following his receipt of the Anointing of the Sick and the Last Rites of the Roman Catholic Church.

I am proud to be his daughter and to have been blessed to know him for these many years. His life was one of service, courage, honor, determination, and integrity which Sheila and I have always been committed to emulate.

PFC Jerome Melvin Liefert, United States Army, will be honored with a Military Funeral at the Fort Snelling National Military Cemetery, on the bluffs overlooking the confluence of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers, in St. Paul, Minnesota on Labor Day Monday.

Please keep my father in your prayers, as we will keep you in ours.

“Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?”

1 Corinthians 15-55

memorial service

Fort Snelling Military Cemetery

September 5, 2022

Fort Snelling National Cemetery 7601 34th Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55450, USA

Funeral/Cremation Provider: Crescent Tide Cremation Services