{"id":48733,"date":"2026-10-08T11:25:36","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T16:25:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/?p=48733"},"modified":"2026-10-08T12:03:38","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T17:03:38","slug":"gerald-h-klotz-st-90-of-lerna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/obits\/48733-gerald-h-klotz-st-90-of-lerna\/","title":{"rendered":"Gerald H. Klotz Sr. (90) of Lerna"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"pdfprnt-buttons pdfprnt-buttons-post pdfprnt-top-right\"><a href=\"javascript: window.print()\" class=\"pdfprnt-button pdfprnt-button-print\" target=\"_self\" ><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.thexradio.com\/news\/wp-content\/plugins\/pdf-print\/images\/print.png\" alt=\"image_print\" title=\"Print Content\" \/><span class=\"pdfprnt-button-title pdfprnt-button-print-title\">Print<\/span><\/a><\/div><p>Gerald H. Klotz Sr., 90, of Lerna IL, passed away on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at Lakeland Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Effingham, IL.<br \/>\nFuneral services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 17, 2026 at Johnson Funeral Home in Effingham. Visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. with a 2:00 p.m. Firefighter walk-through on Saturday, October 17, 2026, prior to the service at the funeral home.<br \/>\nMemorials may be made to Hope 4 Horses Rescue or DPM Bulldogs. Online condolences may be shared at www.johnsonandsonsfh.com.<br \/>\nGerald was born on February 24, 1936, in Chicago, IL the son of Henry W. and Bernadette R. (Durkin) Klotz. He married Barbara Lee Voss on May 11, 1957, and she survives.<br \/>\nGerry was involved with the Orland Park Fire Department and later the Orland Park Fire Protection District for many years, serving as a fireman, lieutenant, assistant chief, and as the president for the board of trustees. He was instrumental in the district\u2019s growth from two to six stations and from 21 to over 100 full-time personnel. He worked at IBM for 37 years, and in his younger days he helped his dad as a carpenter. Gerry was a graduate of Orland Park High School, where he was very involved with athletics, especially the football and baseball teams. His great skill on the diamond resulted in him being drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. He decided not to play professionally and declined both offers. Gerry was a member of St. Michael Catholic Church in Orland Park for many years. Gerry was a lifelong and diehard fan of the Chicago Cubs and the Chicago Bears, as well as an avid<br \/>\nfisherman and gardener. Gerry is survived by his wife of 69 years, Barbara Klotz; children, Patricia Klotz Passfield, Gerald H. (Margie) Klotz Jr., and Donna L. (James) Columbus; grandchildren, Stephanie Erin Owens, Nicholas P. (Mallory) Columbus, David W. (Jaycie) Carey Jr., Jessica A. Carey, Cody James Columbus, and Timothy G. Klotz; sisters-in-law, Louise Klotz and Bonita Klotz; and several nieces and nephews.<br \/>\nHe was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Doris Klotz; brothers, Richard \u201cRichie\u201d Klotz and Wayne Klotz; granddaughter, Jenine LeeAnn Klotz; in-laws, Paul E. and Eleanor A. Voss Jr.; sister-in-law, Marilyn (Voss) Schmaedeke; and brother-in-law, Alan Schmaedeke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gerald H. Klotz Sr., 90, of Lerna IL, passed away on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at Lakeland Rehabilitation and Health Care Center in Effingham, IL. Funeral services will be held [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":48736,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":"","_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-obits"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Gerald H. 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