Jerome Linser

Jerome, age 82, known as Jerry, beloved husband, brother, father, and grandfather, died peacefully on Sunday, April 24, 2022. Jerry, the fifth child of Robert and Della Kloehn Linser was born March 20, 1940 in Alexandria, MN. He grew up on an 80 acre farm in Garfield with his siblings Donald, Rollins, Roger, and Diane. It is on the farm that Jerry developed a deep respect for nature and love of farming which led him through his life.

He met his lifelong honey Mary Anne at age 16 at Lutheran summer camp. After attending Concordia College Moorhead, he and Mary Anne married on the winter solstice, December 22, 1962. At that time, Jerry embarked on a teaching career at St. James school in Faribault and soon welcomed their first son Erich. After relocating to White Bear Lake, Jerry began teaching math and later computer science at Mahtomedi High School where he retired in 1999. In White Bear, he and Mary Anne grew their family with the arrival of daughter Kristen and son Robert. It was in White Bear that Jerry began hobby beekeeping, and he maintained bee hives through summer 2021.

Jerry became known as the Honey Guy, and he and Mary Anne built their dream home in Grant in 1989. Affectionately known as the Bee Ranch or the Honey-Pine Apiary, his home and hobby became his life and work outside of teaching.

At the Bee Ranch, Jerry became actively involved in the MN Hobby Beekeepers Association and with his many hives, produced award-winning honey and bee products. He won many Honey and Apiary Sweepstakes awards at the MN State Fair and received the coveted honey pot.

In White Bear, Jerry sold honey and candles at the weekly farmer’s market since it started. He had many repeat customers for homegrown clover and basswood honey. Mostly he liked the market because it was an opportunity to educate people, especially children, about bees.

Jerry was active in his church, singing in the South Shore Lutheran church choir and later participating in bible study at Woodbury Lutheran Church Oak Hill campus.

Jerry was never idle and instilled in his children the love of the outdoors and an appreciation for all creatures great and small. As a family, they regularly camped and canoed in the Boundary Waters, searched out trout streams on the north shore, and took epic road trips in a 1972 Impala out west to visit Yellowstone, the Black Hills, Devil’s Tower, California and the Great Salt Lake.

Jerry was a gentle friend to all and influenced many students, colleagues, and acquaintances. He cherished his family and tended his father’s farm through the 1970’s during summer breaks. He never shied away from fixing everything from broken bikes to bee equipment. In his workshop, he constructed his own hives and took on many woodworking projects.

Jerry is survived by his bride of 59 years Mary Anne and their children, son Erich; daughter Kristen and husband Heyward Wescott and their daughters, Georgia and Cameron; son Robert and wife Patty and their family: Elena, Julius, and Owen Linser, Krista and Erik Knutson; brother Rollins and wife Lois; sister Diane and husband Dean Parker; sister-in-law Carol Linser; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins and many friends as well as trusted kitty mouser Ted. Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Donald, Roger and sister-in-law Mary. Jerry and his peaceful spirit will live on through all who knew him.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the U of MN Bee Lab or Woodbury Lutheran Oak Hill campus for the development of a pollinator garden.

The family invites you to celebrate Jerry’s life on Saturday, May 7 at the Woodbury Lutheran Oak Hill campus in Stillwater. Visitation will begin at 1pm with a 2pm celebration of life service and a reception following the service.