Memorial

Clement Gerald “Jerry” Stang, 84, died at home of multiple myeloma on November 30, 2024. He was born on July 31, 1940, in Hastings, Nebraska.

Jerry graduated from high school in Oakley, Kansas in 1958 and maintained lifelong friendships with all of his classmates, especially Don Rasmussen, John Krug, and Les Freeman. He spent three years in the Air Force, then went to Fort Hays State College where he met Patricia Thummel. They married in 1966 and had four children. Jerry and Pat moved multiple times throughout their marriage and finally retired in Yukon, Oklahoma in 2001.

Jerry’s first vocation and greatest joy was in being a father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He was also blessed with many opportunities in his personal life, and in his work, to share his great gifts as a teacher. For a few years after graduating from college, he taught high school English and also served as an assistant wrestling and football coach. A long career in pharmaceutical sales followed, where he excelled at teaching doctors, and then the sales representatives he managed, not only about the medications his company made, but about developing relationships based on trust and genuine interest in the other. Over the last thirty years, his “side gig” was helping people discern their own talents and skills and teaching them how to write a resume and interview for a job in a way that put those talents and skills in the best possible light.

One of the things that made him a great teacher was his constant desire to learn. Building on a foundation set by his own dad, he taught himself carpentry and woodworking skills that allowed him to share many handmade treasures with his family, including an upright piano that he took apart and refinished, piece by piece, just to see if he could. His hobby of collecting and repairing clocks was a source of wonder to many, and of occasional frustration to Pat. Jerry was a born storyteller, but showed all of us that learning never ends when he went back to school to get his Master of Arts in English Traditional Studies from UCO in 2001.

Jerry and Pat were always very involved at church, wherever they lived. Known as "the voice of God" at many parishes, he shared his wonderful voice and talent as a lector and in the choir. People often experienced Scripture in a new way when they heard him read at Mass. Pat will no doubt continue to be the Church Lady who knows everything you need to know about what's going on at the parish.

Jerry's family is deeply grateful for the assistance and support of caretakers from Visiting Angels in Yukon and Mercy Home Hospice.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Clement Stang and Anna Marie (Sander) Stang, and twelve of his siblings: Donald, Edwin, Elmer, Lorine Webb, Luella Cudney, Robert, Linneus, Kenneth, Ronald, Tina Brouillette, Joan Landen, and Bill.

He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Pat, siblings Virgil Stang and Connie Martin, and by his four children: Ann Cook, Jennifer Calvert and her husband Barry, Ed Stang and his wife Sharla, and Adam Stang and his wife Robyn. He also leaves behind his grandchildren: Joshua Cook and his wife Shannon, Kaylee Cook, Allison Maguire and her husband Conor, Lucas Cook, Rebecca Stang and her husband Thomas, Tabitha Stang, Andrew Stang, Ryan Stang, Sarah Denham and her husband Blake, Emma Stang, and step-grandson Chad Calvert. Jerry had the great joy of knowing and loving four great-grandchildren: Alexander (Xander) Cook, Nathaniel Cook, Lakely Stang, and Sophie Denham.

The Mass of Christian Burial was held on December 7, at St. John Nepomuk Catholic Church, in Yukon.