Jerry Carlson, a visionary philanthropist who donated over $1.6 million to St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County, passed away at the age of 90 on March 3rd. During his lifetime, Jerry made multiple gifts to St. Joseph Health that helped support patient care for the community he loved, and lived in all his life. The Progressive Care Unit was named in his honor after he donated one million dollars to the Blueprint For Excellence campaign.
Jerry was born and raised in Humboldt County. He joined the Navy at age 17 and became interested in weight-lifting and body-building and he won several competitions in the Navy and later in the public sector. The Navy also sparked his interest in traveling. He was an incredibly active man who visited all 7 continents. He was a carpentry foreman and worked on various projects in Humboldt County including St. Joseph’s Hospital and HSU. He was a member of the Carpenters Union 56.
He had an endless list of hobbies which included snow skiing, water skiing and riding motorcycles. He became a licensed pilot and flew planes all his life. He was an active hunter and gun club member as well as a horseman and rancher. He loved spending time on his ranch at Redwood Creek.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Genevieve and Einar Carlson and his brother Bob who was killed in WWII. He is survived by his sister, Pat Biasca and her daughters Gail, Janet and Nancy. He has four great nieces and nephews, Melanie, Chris, Daniel and Pella and great great nieces Lynnea, Clara, Amelia, and great great nephews Lukas, Tyler and James as well as many wonderful friends. Jerry’s family extends a special thank you to Dr Mathew and his staff at Redwood Renal for their years of excellent care. Also hats off to the amazing staff at Dialysis who made Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Saturday’s bearable considering how much he hated sitting in a chair for 5 hours at a time. The family wishes to express heartfelt appreciation to the St. Joseph Health PCU nurses for the comfort and care they provided to Jerry in his final days.