Gerald "Gerry" L. Tester, 73, of Springfield, MO, died on Friday, Nov. 9, 2018.
Visitation will be held Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Gorman-Scharpf Funeral Home, Inc. in Springfield, MO. Funeral services will follow, beginning at 12 p.m. at the funeral home. Graveside services will be held Friday, Nov. 16, beginning at 11 a.m. at Friends Creek Cemetery in Argenta.
Mr. Tester was born May 20, 1945, in Litchfield, to William and Helen (Rottinghaus) Tester. He married Barbara Traxler on June 15, 1969, in Forsyth, and she survives.
He graduated from Raymond High School with the class of 1963, and went on to graduate from Southern Illinois University in 1966.
Beginning as a management trainee in 1966, Mr. Tester worked for JC Penney for 40 years. He retired in 2005 as the Springfield store and home store manager. Throughout his career, he held several managerial positions across the country at the district, regional and corporate levels.
He loved to travel in his retirement and could strike up a conversation with anyone at an RV park, making new friends. He was a member of the Springfield Better Business Bureau, where he volunteered on the board of directors from 1998 to 2015.
In addition to his wife of 49 years, Mr. Tester is survived by his daughter, Nicole; son-in-law, Jason Fromm; sister-in-law, Roberta (Traxler) Schlacter; and several cousins on both sides of his family.
Memorials may be directed to the Gastro-Intestinal Research Foundation, University of Chicago, 20 West Kinzie Street, 17th Floor, Chicago, IL 60654 or they may be made online at www.giresearchfoundation.org/donate.
