Gerald “Jerry” Blood
Aug. 22, 1944 – March 22, 2026
Gerald “Jerry” Everett Blood, beloved husband of Barbara Blood and devoted father and grandfather, passed into the Lord’s presence surrounded by his family Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Fairbanks after a 10-year battle with chronic lymphoma and heart disease.
He was born on August 22, 1944, in Douglas, Ariz., while his father served in the U.S. Army. He and his parents moved to Seattle when he was 2 years old. In 1955, the family moved to Fairbanks, where his father worked as a meat cutter at a local grocery store.
Jerry graduated from Lathrop High School in 1963 and attended University of Alaska for one year. He was drafted into the Army in 1965 and served one year in Vietnam from 1966 to 1967.
After discharge, he joined his family in Anchorage and followed in his father’s footsteps as a meat cutter, working at Anchorage Cold Storage. In 1978, he began work at Park’s Place grocery in Glennallen. He met Barb while she was serving as a missionary nurse at Faith Hospital.
They went on their first date in July 1980, got engaged in September and married in December of that same year. Barb described it as a “whirlwind romance,” but one that would last 45 years.
They were blessed with two children, Janie in 1983 and Matthew in 1985. The family moved to Haines in 1990 for Jerry to begin work as a meat cutter at Food Center. After serving 13 years as a volunteer firefighter/EMT, he was hired by the Haines Volunteer Fire Department as a paid employee for the remaining years of his working life, retiring at 66.
Jerry turned his life over to his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through the ministry of Victory Bible Camp in 1972. For five years, he would leave his job in Anchorage for the summer and volunteer as the horse wrangler at the camp. He went on to become an elder and deacon, Sunday School teacher, and kids’ club leader, both at Glennallen Community Chapel, and later at Port Chilkoot Bible Church in Haines.
Throughout his years in Glennallen and Haines, he was known as a good and kindhearted man, hard worker and committed volunteer. He was well known for his woodcutting skills. Even after he didn’t need wood to heat his own home, he continued cutting, splitting and stacking wood as a gift for others. He was famous for his neat stacks of firewood, having three years’ worth of wood stacked, ready and dried for the cold winters.
He was a loving husband, father and grandfather. He adored his five grandchildren, both in Sitka and in Fairbanks. In 2020, he and Barb bought a condo to be “snow birds” in Sitka, but because of his failing health, they made Sitka their permanent residence in 2025. He loved living near his two Sitka granddaughters, but made frequent trips to Fairbanks to see the grandkids there as well. His Fairbanks family loved traveling to Sitka to spend time with him.
Survivors include his wife, Barbara; two children, Janie Hall (Tim) and Matthew Blood (Holly); five grandchildren, Natalie and Grace Hall and Taylor, Makenna and Charlie Blood; one brother, Derryl Blood (Jenett); and two brothers- in-law, Bob (Carol) and Paul (Wendy). He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers.
His ashes will be laid to rest at Sitka National Cemetery at a later date.
Donations in his memory may be to Echo Ranch Bible Camp Haines, PO Box 210608, Auke Bay, AK 99801.