Jerry David Hamilton, 78, of Sioux City, died January 3, 2024. A Celebration of Life will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Sioux City Riverfront Shoreview Room Sunday, January 7, 2024, from 1 pm - 4 pm, and at Plumbago in Camarillo, CA, February 3, 1 pm - 4 pm.  Reach out to the family for the address.

Jerry was born on October 19, 1945, in Okmulgee, Oklahoma, the son of Paul and Helen (Davis) Hamilton. He graduated in 1963 from the Ventura High School in Ventura, California. Jerry enlisted in the Marines and was Honorably Discharged in 1971.

Jerry married Colleen Lafferty on December 24, 1968. Together they made their home in southern California in the town of Oxnard. They had two daughters in 1972 and 1974.  Jerry worked as an engineer at Teledyne Electronics (later Litton GCS and then Northrop Grumman) for 40 years.  After his time at Northrop, he joined AeroVironment and continued his aerospace career.  While some of his work was top secret, he did get to work on parts for fighter jets, the Space Shuttle, and the Water Pik. They retired to Sioux City in 2012.

Jerry was very involved in his children’s lives. He would take off work to see their school plays/programs.  He would drive (often with Colleen) them to out-of-town games. On weekends when mom was away, he would cook the girls pancakes and take them fishing while listening to the Dodger game on the radio. Vacations were always road trips in the station wagon, traveling to Iowa and Oklahoma and stopping everywhere in between. They would continue their road trips after the girls moved out and had traveled to every state west of the Mississippi and some others. Later he would find joy in reading quietly and watching the menagerie in the back yard enjoy the seeds that he would put out.

Jerry is survived by two daughters, Karen (Mark Neamtu) Hamilton of Long Beach, CA., and Denise Hamilton of Camarillo, CA; his brother Bill (Karen) Hamilton, nephews Loren Hamilton and Clinton Hamilton, his sister Nancy Bocovich and four adopted daughters, Heather Havens, Betina Castellon, Masako Yamamoto and Ana Gutierrez.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his beloved wife Colleen in 2021 and two brothers, Rick Hamilton and Johnny Hamilton.