A Tribute to Jerry...

The world lost a great sportsman this past weekend.  Gerald Mills, my father's brother and my eldest uncle, passed away after 85 big years

Father, husband, war veteran, grandfather...so many other titles to list, but I knew him best as Uncle Jerry.

The oldest brother in my father's siblings, he was directly responsible for my passion for the outdoors.  If it wasnt for him dragging his kid brother along with him deer hunting and salmon fishing, OMR would have never had the foundation to give to me.

All the stories that made up the outdoor theater of bedtime as a young boy, tales of deer hunting in Eastern Oregon. Fishing off Mills's rock on the Kalama, so on and so on.  They all had the reoccurring theme, Jerry was there to take my dad along and in turn light his outdoor fire.  To my grandfather, hunting and fishing was a take it or leave it proposition.  For Jerry it was a passion.

For me Uncle Jerry was such a welcome sight when our side of the family made it to Portland.  To know he wont be there when we go back is a tough pillow to swallow.

But the good thing is that his spirit lives on, every time we go outside to hunt or fish

Thanks Uncle Jer...