Gerald (Jerry) Lee Pellett

On Thursday, February18, 2021, Gerald Lee Pellett, age 84, of Kewaunee, Wi and Honolulu, HI,  died of complications from colon cancer, in the Honolulu home of his son Jonathan and family.  Jerry was born in April 18, 1936 in Rochester, New York to the late Doris Welch Pellett and Lee Pellett.  He earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Renssselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1958 and a PhD from the Institute of Paper Chemistry at Lawrence College in 1964.  Following two years as a Lieutenant in the US Army, Jerry was employed by the National Aeronautical and Space Agency (NASA), Hampton, Virginia, as a rocket scientist, a NASA representative to North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and a NASA consultant to the Air Pollution Control Board in Virginia.  In 2010 he retired from civil service and became a NASA Distinguished Research Associate, assigned to researching remedies for water and air pollution in the Great Lakes area.  Jerry was a scientist, a naturalist, and an optimist. He loved to share his knowledge and to learn from the many people he met in his extensive international pursuits.   He spearheaded and continued to be personally involved on-site with health and education projects in Kenya, India and Guatemala.  Jerry was an avid photographer and left copious documentation of his many projects.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Lea Buchanan Pellett whom he married in Kewaunee, Wi in 1962: his son Jonathan and daughter-in-law Ponemany and their four children; Dylan, Ian, Justin, and Jack; sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Bernice and Mark Buchanan of Kewaunee, Wi; sister in law, Monica Buchanan Knuesel of Broomfield, Co and eight nieces and nephews: Brenda Buchanan, Kurt Buchanan, Stacie (Hans) Buchanan Gomez, Donald (Jennifer) Knuesel,  Paul (Lisa) Knuesel, Robert (Clare) Knuesel, John (Kelly) Knuesel, Matthew (Kimberly) Knuesel; and two close, intergeneration friends, William Reinke of Spring Grove, Wi and Tenibac Harvey of Nashville, Tenn.  He was preceded in death by two infant daughters, Jennifer and Alexandra; parents, Doris and Lee Pellett,  parents-in-law, Anna and Allan Buchanan, brother-in-law, David Knuesel and nephew, James Knuesel.

The family will celebrate Jerry's life and legacy at a later time.