Sad news to report

[TroutTroll]

All,
I haven’t posted in a while, and have sad news to report. Jerry Foster passed away this morning. His wife was with him at home. Those of you that knew him knew that he was wicked smart, and did not suffer fools. I think he made an exception in my case; my ignorance was tolerated because I didn’t make the same mistake twice (mostly).
I miss my friend…

[GrayHackleRods]

Sad day indeed. We will miss you terribly Jerry. Condolences and prayers to his family.

[jmcj1984]

Best wishes to family and friends he will be missed

[cdmoore]

So sorry to hear this. I was just thinking of him and Chris Raine and Tom Chandler the other day when we were in Crescent City to visit the Redwoods, not too far from their old places. What a quick and inquisitive mind--I must have read his skunkworks site 50 times over--so warmly generous in sharing his knowledge, so disarming with his irresistible invitations to question and challenge convention here on the forum. Condolences to all who knew and loved him.

Chris

[tbc1415]

I will miss him dearly. Been taking to him weekly for the past month. A realist to the end. He was as ready as anyone can be.

[roycestearns]

Jerry will be missed. He approached the taper with a technical/scientific mindset. Always willing to share his experience.

Burned out of Paradise Ca in the fire of 2017

Harassed by Lockheed Martin for his use of Skunkworks in his business name https://midcurrent.com/2010/07/22/lockh ... after-bam/

A Metolius/Camp Sherman regular, his great taper test of twelve rods was enlightening, I need to go dig out his handout.

We lost a great mind and kind soul. RIP and condolences to the family.

[OldCane]

Very sad news indeed. RIP Jerry.

[CMcDowell]

The last time I spoke with Jerry was a few years back at the Calapooia gathering in Brownsville, Oregon. He was there with his batch of trial rods, explaining the physics behind the designs with an engineer's perspective. He was alway's generous and accommodating, even when he detected I was sometimes having trouble keeping up with the math and theory behind his charts or detecting the subtle distinctions in his rods. RIP Jerry.

[wctc1]

My heartfelt condolences to his wife and family. I remember meeting Jerry long ago, his strong presence bursting with reserved personality in those old time Metolius gatherings before it got big. He missed #1, heard about it and was there almost every time after. In those days, he still hadn't computerized his mill, but he had plenty of experimental rods to use on our casting pond. He always laughed at my cast and in his deep chuckle said "try this one." Then, he computerized his mill and the game was on! With his beard neatly trimmed especially for the show and many more rods, he'd lay in the tree shade at the south end of the fair, rods laid out, notebooks at his side, waiting like a tiger for unsuspecting game to stroll by, pause, and then, that was it. Then there was Brownsville, a show that was a bit of a bother, but I'm glad we put it on. With vigor, Jerry came both times. After the 2017 fire, which left Jerry and surprisingly, given the size of Paradise, another of my friends without a house, we were often on the telephone sorting out places to live in Oregon. Finally he was resettled. May he rest in peace. Sorry to go on so long. I don't have many friends but counted Jerry among them.

[ReelPatina]

My condolences to family and those of you who were friends. Sounds like he was quite the personality and diligent in his theories and the noble pursuit of making a damn good fly rod.

[bruce howell]

Saddened to learn of the passing of Jerry Foster. He will be missed not only as a rod maker/designer but as a friend to anyone who came in contact with him. Had many conversations with Jerry as he tried to educated me on his terminology and methodology used to evaluate rod action and performance. Thank you my friend.