Jim Gere (6/14/25-1/30/08, 82 years old) Memorial Service, 2/21/08, Remarks by Roger Jackman
We gather today to mourn the death of James Monroe Gere, but, more importantly, we gather to celebrate his life. Janice tells me that Jim left written instructions for all speakers to introduce themselves and state how they knew him. I am Roger Jackman, and I first met Jim as a runner at Stanford. While I’m here to represent the various running groups in Jim’s life, he was much more than a running buddy. Jim was an Organizer, Educator, Hiker, Traveler, and Friend, and I will follow those five threads through the rich fabric of his life.
All little kids love to run, but Jim simply never lost that love of running. After competing in track and cross-country in high school and college, he continued to run for fun and fitness at Stanford with an avid and diverse group of runners, with many of those runners here today. Jim, unlike some in the group, was not a world-class runner, but he was a world-class Organizer. In the early 1970’s he was largely responsible for uniting the runners as the “Angell Field Ancients”. The name demonstrates the self-deprecating humor of this extremely accomplished and unpretentious man. He designed and distributed T-shirts like the popular bright yellow one on display. He made up humorous slogans such as “start slow and taper off”. He created meticulous maps of numerous running routes on and off campus. Daily noon runs were organized on the tracks at Angell Field or Stanford Stadium and off-track to the Dish, Golf Course, and other scenic locations. In 1973, Jim ran the Boston Marathon, the most famous marathon since the original one in Greece, and finished the 26.2 miles at age 48 in a commendable 3 hours and 13 minutes.
By the early 1980’s, Jim and several of the rest of us had slowed due to aging and various infirmities and found ourselves lagging behind the main running group. Because we couldn’t keep up with the other Ancients, we were clearly a bunch of “Wimps”, and that became the name of our splinter group of about 10 runners. We found we had a common interest in discussing a wide range of topics having nothing to do with running. Thus, enter Professor Gere, the Educator. Everyone got their turn to expound on a variety of topics as we ran, with Jim leading many discussions including how buildings and bridges are put up and how earthquakes knock them down. We learned about tectonic plate movement around the world, cripple studs in Hollister houses, and landfill liquefaction in San Francisco.
The Wimp discussions were always interesting and at times heated. Sometimes we would have a clash of the scientific titans or a war of perception about such controversial events as the O. J. Simpson trial, the Clinton Whitehouse scandals, or the War in Iraq. If the discussion got too volatile, Jim would defuse the situation by stating, “I think you’re both right”. He loved a lively discussion but hated serious discord.
The Wimps found that we liked to run our mouths even more than our feet and started having “Boys Night Out” to create more time for discussion. When even that extra time wasn’t enough, Jim the Hiker surfaced to organize a series of trips to Yosemite for the Wimps, as he has done for most of you out there. Our first memorable trip was to Half Dome, supported by detailed maps and instructions so typical of Jim. He hiked large portions of the John Muir Trail, numerous sections of the Grand Canyon, up to the peak of Mount Whitney, and through the foothills of the Himalayas. Ranger Jim made the trips educational as well as enjoyable with his vast knowledge of geography and geology. We learned of giant glaciers creating Yosemite Valley, glacial moraines guiding rivers, and the Colorado River carving back through eons of rock layers to create the mile deep Grand Canyon.
With the Wimps so closely bonded, we obviously needed to include the Wimp spouses. They were introduced into the group through events like Jim’s Stanford retirement party, Janice and Jim’s 50th wedding anniversary cruise, Christmas holiday parties, and trips to Yosemite and Lake Tahoe.
Jim the Traveler also went on numerous non-hiking trips with many of us gathered here today. Mary and I were privileged to travel with Janice and Jim to Alaska, Mexico, and the Caribbean, with the highlight being the passage through the Panama Canal where Jim could educate us for hours on end about the construction and operation of the Canal.
The final and most important thread, tying everything together, is Gentleman Jim the Friend. He was the most positive person I’ve ever known with an infectious enthusiasm for life. Whether we were connected to Jim through running, the Bridge Club, engineering, or family, our lives were all enriched by this marvelous man.