Memorial
Gerald (Jerry) Thomas Knox, 76, of Fort Myers, FL and formerly of Cedar Rapids, IA died October 13, 2015. Funeral Service: 3:00 p.m. Friday, October 16, 2015 at Cedar Memorial Chapel of Memories. Family will greet friends from 1-3 p.m. prior to service.
He is survived by his wife Karen, Brother Gene (Joyce), uncle Keith Wicks (Pat), daughter Laura Dawson (Mike), his son Jeff (Karen), and his son Bryan (Chris) and grandchildren Sarah Ott, Ryan Dawson, Michael Nemer, Sydney Knox, Sean Knox, Matthew Knox, Cael Knox, Lauren Knox and Katie Knox and 4 great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents, Thomas J. and Frances (Wicks) Knox and a brother James (Jim) Knox.
Born May 31, 1939 in Preston, Minnesota his family moved to Waukon, Iowa where he enjoyed his teenage years and graduated from St. Patrick’s High School. After he graduated High School, he moved to Cedar Rapids, IA and worked for the Square D Company and then moved to Columbus, Ohio where he met his wife Karen and started his family. In Ohio he started a long and successful career as a business owner.
The family moved back to Cedar Rapids in 1970. Along with his brother Gene and Uncle Keith they opened Best Rental Centers. With an uncanny ability to develop talent in his employees, he grew the company to 6 stores and also co-founded Foxx High Reach in Davenport, IA. After retirement he took his life-long love of airplanes and started a company refurbishing and selling Lear jets.
Jerry and Karen divorced in 1989 but found love again and remarried on October 25, 2014.
From humble beginnings in his beloved Allamakee County Iowa to his successful career as a business owner he was grateful to the people that helped him along the way and mentored him in his career. Jerry tried to help others in the same way. His proudest moments came when his employees, former employees or children found success. Jerry was truly a champion of the underdog. His greatest talent was getting people to believe in themselves and to remove their self-imposed limits.
Jerry was a quiet supporter of many causes in Cedar Rapids, IA and Fort Myers, FL including Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Greater Cedar Rapids Foundation, Four Oaks, The ARC of East Central Iowa and the American Cancer Society. In Lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to any of the above mentioned organizations.
Friendly with a great sense of humor, generous, hardworking, optimistic, humble, loving father and husband, he set a great example of how life should be lived and will be greatly missed by his family and friends.