Our walk today was dedicated in honor of:
Army Veteran Jerry Ray Kapalin, Age 91 of Crossville, TN.
Died Oct. 10, 2020
Jerry was born on 3/21/29 to his immigrant parents in Cleveland, Ohio. During the Great Depression, the family moved to NE Wisconsin to live on a farm. Jerry was a great baseball shortstop and was offered an invitation to the Old Washington Senators spring training in Florida the next spring.
In 1951, Jerry joined the Army and was sent to Korea. Within two weeks of being stationed at the front, Jerry was wounded by a North Korean machine gun nest. He was awarded the Purple Heart.
Jerry returned to Wisconsin, where he married his sweetheart and had four children. He remained active in the local American Legion and promoted veterans causes and his church. His Catholic faith served him well.
He became a plumber and ran a successful plumbing business, Kapalin Plumbing; for over twenty years up until his retirement.
Jerry was instrumental in organizing and founding the Bayshore Athletic Booster Club promoting softball and basketball leagues for elementary and middle school students in a rural area outside Green Bay.
Upon retirement, Jerry and Donna moved to Avon Park, Florida. Again Jerry saw a need, and founded the Highland County Senior Softball League, which flourishes to this day.
Jerry was chosen as a Senior Softball Player for a Wisconsin Team at the Senior Olympics in
Pittsburgh, PA.
With the loss of Donna, Jerry moved to Crossville, TN to be near his oldest son Mike and daughter in law, Lynne. Jerry was a resident at Dominion Senior Living for a year and a half. He was loved by family, fellow residents and staff alike. He always had a smile on his face and always had a kind word for you as well. He is greatly missed.
We had a great 8.87 Mile walk today and a great event at the Dominion Senior Living Center on Woodlawn Road, Crossville, TN.
We started out by walking up town to the War Memorial Park and then we walked to the Dominion Senior Living Center . It was great meeting everyone and what a great program they had honoring us Veterans. A really great lunch. It was great to meet Jerry’s son. Great speakers and great singer. I want to thank my friend Robert for walking with us today and I want to thank all who honked, waved, and saluted in helping us honor this hero today. We had 287 honks. It was amazing.
Army Veteran Jerry Ray Kapalin will not be forgotten !
(I want to thank Dominion Senior Living Center for the New Flag.)
