Gerald “Gerry” Garrison, a long-time Vashon Island resident, passed away on October 16, 2018, at the Vashon Care Center. He was 96 years old.

Gerry was born to Beatrice (Lee) and Ray Garrison in 1922, in Moses Lake, Washington, where his family had an apple orchard. In 1933, during the Depression, he and his family moved to Vashon Island in search of new possibilities. They ran a small vegetable farm and started a dairy. Gerry and his younger brother Ken helped out by delivering milk to their customers on the north end of the island. Gerry excelled in school, graduating from Vashon High School in 1938 at the age of 16. He continued his studies at the University of Washington, completing a degree in civil engineering in 1942. He was drafted into the navy and stationed at the Bremerton shipyard during World War II. After the war ended, he utilized the GI bill to earn his doctorate in physics at the University of Washington in 1952.

While in graduate school, Gerry reconnected with a young woman from Vashon Island, Gwen Rees, who was also a student at the UW. She was a gregarious nurse who had served in the army during World War II. They married and had 3 children: Ann was born in 1949, Ralph in 1951, and Clark in 1954. In addition to starting a family, Gerry was growing his career at the UW Applied Physics Laboratory. He was a daily ferry commuter to the UW from his north-end island home, and occasionally his work took him to the Arctic, Virgin Islands, Hawaii, and California to study ocean acoustic properties. He retired from the UW in 1994. He also bought the Burton Water Company, which provides water for the town of Burton, in the early 1950s and worked with the business until 2015.

Gerry was an avid outdoor adventurer. In his spare time, he skied, hiked, and climbed in the Cascades and Olympics. He and his family enjoyed swimming and water skiing in Puget Sound, and spending time at their Ober Beach family property and their small cabin near Crystal Mountain.

Gerry was widowed in 1970 due to an auto accident. Through his involvement with the Seattle Mountaineers, he met his second wife Karin Johansen, an adventurous physical therapist, originally from Germany. They loved traveling and explored nearly every continent on many trekking and sightseeing trips. They lived together in a beautiful home on the north end of the island, surrounded by Puget Sound views. Karin died in 2010, and Gerry continued living independently in their home until a few months before his death. In his later years, he especially enjoyed daily walks and games of Scrabble with his friend Dorothy Bauer.

Gerry’s family and friends knew him as a quiet man, with a sharp mind and quick wit. He valued time with his family and organized annual family holiday gatherings for nearly two decades. He had strong connections to Vashon Island, where he lived for 85 years. His presence will be missed by many.

He is survived by his children Ann Testerman (husband Bill Testerman) and Ralph Garrison (wife Maureen Williams); his grandchildren Shelly Randall, Jill Testerman, Nora May, Gwen Garrison, Forrest Garrison, and Melanie Williams; and his great-grandchild Soren Randall. He was preceded in death by his son Clark Garrison in 2006 and his brother Ken Garrison in 2017.

A celebration of his life will be held 2 pm Sunday, November 11, at the Burton Community Church, 23905 Vashon Highway SW, Vashon Island.