Jerry Edward Porter

Jerry Edward Porter

8/29/2021

Jerry Edward Porter, 76, of DeLand, died on August 29 at the Emory L. Bennett Veterans Nursing Home in Daytona Beach, after a long and courageous battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Jerry was born on January 14, 1945 in Bennington, VT to Pauline Chase Porter and Bernard Untiedt Porter. His family lived in Hoosick, New York, and then moved several times until his father retired from the Army to Augusta, GA. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from North Georgia College in 1967. He was commissioned a 2LT in the US Army and served for a year in the Signal Corps, 4th Infantry Division, Pleiku, Vietnam. After his honorable discharge from the military, he moved to Florida where he had a successful career in the golf industry, beginning as a sales rep for Dunlop Sports. In 1983 he became the Executive Director of the North Florida Section of the PGA, from which he retired in 2009.

He was a member of St. Peter Catholic Church in DeLand where he volunteered each week in the adoration chapel and belonged to the Knights of Columbus. He also volunteered at Advent Health in DeLand and was the past president of the Victoria Gardens Advisory Committee.

Although golf was his passion, his true and deepest love was his family. He is survived by his wife Peggy, daughters Beth (Jay) Nelson and Melody Porter, stepson Chris (Tracy) Weeks, grandchildren Jud Nelson, River Porter, and Forest Porter, along with Nick and Maddy Weeks, his sister Pat Porter Gold, and his beloved niece and nephew.

A big man with an even bigger heart, he was well known and loved by many for his warmth, easy smile, sense of humor, and willingness to help and support others.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at St. Peter Catholic Church, 359 W. New York Avenue, DeLand, on Thursday, September 2 at 10 am. COVID-19 precautions will be observed, including masks and social distancing.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations in his memory to the Parkinson Association of Central Florida ( www.parkinsoncf.org ) or the Michael J. Fox Research Foundation ( www.michaeljfox.org ).