Jerry Gordon Glashagel of Chicago died on March 13, 2019 at the age of 75 after a valiant struggle with strokes. He was born in Hinsdale, Ill., and grew up in LaGrange where his family had lived for generations. His undergraduate degree was from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and he completed graduate school at Yale Divinity School in New Haven, Conn. He was an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ.

He is remembered for his unfailing generosity, big-idea creativity, his entrepreneurial spirit, passion for learning, and insatiable curiosity for life.

These values are reflected in his work life with more than 20 years with the National YMCA including work abroad in India, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Peru, and Costa Rica. Domestically, his YMCA work was in California, Ohio, Oregon, and Washington in addition to the Chicago area. He was part of the design team of Y programs such as the Values Project, Listen First, The Gulick Collaborative, Y-Micro, and Activate America as well as projects with Triangle 2. He also created entrepreneurial businesses such as Global Edge, ESFI, and others.

Jerry is preceded in death by his mother, Dorothy, and father, Robert. He is survived by his wife, Charlotte, two children, Sarah Haywood (Scott) and Peter Glashagel (Megan), four grandchildren, David, Katie, Zachary, and Jobe, his sister, Gayle Strand, and his brother, Barry Glashagel and their families.

Following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, he owned and managed the Weeping Willow Ranch mobile home park in Countryside, Ill., and participated actively on several boards such as the LaGrange Mental Health Association and Edgewood Bank. He had a great love of the Northwoods area of Vilas County, having retired to Carlin Lake, Presque Isle when not at the Admiral at the Lake in Chicago. Projects in the Northwoods included managing 40 acres of woodland with more than 1,000 feet of lake frontage and a private pond where his infamous shanty boat, “Monet,” resides.

Two celebrations of his life are planned. Saturday, April 27, 2019 at the Admiral at the Lake, 929 W Foster Ave, Chicago, — open house from 2 to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019 at the Community Presbyterian Church of Manitowish Waters — 2 to 4 p.m.

His passion for making this world a better place always came through in his words and actions as he lived his values. With this in mind, the family has chosen to offer support of two of Jerry’s favorite non-profit projects. Should you wish to donate, the University of Illinois YMCA (universityymca.org) will accept memorials to their Sierra Leone project which Jerry helped to initiate and foster, and ULEAD (uleadinc.org) will accept memorials to their Interfaith Dialogue Card project.