Jerome "Jerry" L'Estrange

The planet lost a tremendous man the evening of June 18, 2024. Jerry L’Estrange surely got a first-class ticket through the gates of heaven when he passed at his home in Buena Vista, Colorado, surrounded by love, family and friends.

Jerry was the second of ten children born to Jack Francis L’Estrange and Trouble “Eleanor” Elizabeth L’Estrange in Winterset, Iowa (Birthplace of John Wayne). Growing up on the family’s farm in Bevington, Iowa honed his epic work ethic. He graduated from Martensdale High School and then received his master’s degree in Special Needs Education from Drake University. He moved to Basalt, Colorado with his first wife Susan in 1976 and changed careers, becoming the Town Administrator, which proved to be his true calling. From Basalt and Buena Vista, Colorado to Shady Cove, Oregon and several other towns, he left each and every town far better than he found them.

He loved his family and friends, collecting and working on classic cars, Jimmy Buffet, and indigenous local bars. He was a voracious reader, and his brilliance and quick wit will be impossibly missed. He was preceded in death by his father (Jack), mother (Trouble), brothers (J.P. and Joe), sister (Denise), 1st wife (Susan) and stepson (Todd Smith).

He is survived by sisters Margaret, Mary, Pat, Theresa, Susan and brother Dan, his loving wife Cathy, his beloved son Bleu and cherished granddaughter Bre. Future funeral service to be held at St. Patrick’s Church in Cumming, Iowa on his birthday.

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