Gerald A. "Jerry" Reingans died Nov. 23 at his home in Palmdale, CA.
He was born May 11, 1926 in South Milwaukee, WI to Alfred and Agnes Reingans.
He joined the Navy on Feb 27, 1942 and served aboard the destroyer USS Mayrant in July 1943. He was injured when the ship was attacked off the coast of Italy for which he was awarded the Purple Heart. He was honorably discharged from the Navy and in 1944 joined the Merchant Marine, working aboard merchant ships that convoyed from North America across the Atlantic to Mermansk, Soviet Union.
After the war, he enrolled in the Geophysical Service for training to become a surveyor on a seismic crew for oil exploration in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. It was in Texas that he met Maurice "Mig" Parsons. They were married Dec. 24, 1945 and were married for 32 years until her death in 1977.
In 1949, he began a long and colorful career as a salesman. He sold drilling equipment for the oil industry while living in Texas, Canada, and Wyoming.
In 1956, he moved to Los Angeles, CA with his family and worked for various companies as a regional salesman for automotive products. He retired in 1989.
He was an active member in the Veterans of Foreign Wars, at the VFW Eric Huberth Post #11395 in Thousand Oaks, and was Post Commander in the early 1990s.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Mig and his sister, Grace Wagner of Livonia, MI. He is survived by his sister, Germaine Wynn of Birmingham, AL; daughter, Cheryl Poindexter of Littlerock, CA; son, Gerald (Suzanne) Reingans of Dallas, OR; and four grandchildren.