Trygve Gerald Oydgard

Marengo-Trygve Gerald (Jerry) Oydgard was born March 23, 1938 in the Norwegian American Hospital in Brooklyn, N.Y. He was the son of Trygve and Randi Oydgard. He passed away at home August 8, 2025 at the age of 87 years.

He was married to Susan Davis, OD November 19, 1977 at the United Methodist Church in Newton, Iowa. Jerry's first 10 years of life were spent in a Sicilian neighborhood of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, N.Y. The family then moved to a house that he and his father built on Long Island. After the initial shell was built, they did all plumbing and electrical work. That early training led him to become an electronic technician in the United States Navy. Jerry later used his many skills in construction, electrical work, and plumbing in the Marengo area on properties that he and Sue owned. He also was an early adapter to computerization of office procedures and inventory management in Sue’s optometric practice.

Jerry loved learning and obtained master's degrees in adult education and media technology with graduate and dissertation work towards a PhD in adult education. He worked at Northeastern University in Boston, Mass., Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, and for a short while at the University of Iowa College of Nursing in Iowa City. Jerry and Sue met at Indiana University while both were in graduate school.

One of Jerry's joys was sailing and he taught Hobie Cat sailing at Indiana University. He also loved music and would whistle opera and navy sea shanties. He was in the Navy's Blue Jacket Choir which performed across the US in the late 1950s. Closer to retirement he enjoyed going on various ocean cruises, one of which closely followed the route that his naval destroyer took to and from the Mediterranean. Jerry was a member of the Peoples Church Unitarian Universalist in Cedar Rapids.

He is survived by his wife, Sue; nieces Karen (Paul) Gerbi of Malden, Mass. and Virginia Oltman of Frederick, Md.; and brother-in-law Chuck McCabe of Fulton, N.Y. as well as many cousins in southern Norway.

Visitation will be held at Powell Funeral Home in Marengo, Thursday, August 14, 2025 from 4:00 to7:00 pm. If you would like to bring a flower from your garden in honor of Trygve, we will have a vase available to place the flower. A celebration of life will be September 13, 2025 at 10 a.m. at Peoples Church in Cedar Rapids the service will be lived streamed. Interment will be at Mount Zion cemetery in Jasper County at a later date. In lieu of flowers, please plant a tree in honor of Trygve, and send a picture to Susan. A memorial fund has been established Highland Ridge, Peoples Church or the American Heart Association. Messages and tributes may be directed to www.powellfuneralhomes.com.