Richard Gerber

Born July 10, 1942, in Webster City, Iowa, to Walter Hio Gerber and Dorothy Ruth Humphrey. He attended Kamrar School and graduated from Kamrar High School in 1959. He went on to further his education at Webster City Junior College and University of Iowa. Rick served in the Iowa National Guard 1965-1971. He was united in marriage to Linda S. Gosche in 1972. The couple divorced in 1974. On September 20, 1980, Rick married Ann Elizabeth Struchen at the Asbury Methodist Church in Webster City, Iowa. They had celebrated their 43rd anniversary in September.

Through the years, Rick lived in several towns and cities in Iowa including his hometowns of Kamrar and Webster City. He also lived in Spencer, West Des Moines, Des Moines, and Norwalk. He had other employment opportunities which took him to Las Vegas, NV; Omaha, NE; White Bear Lake, MN; Edmond, OK; Costa Mesa and Upland, CA; and finally retiring with his wife near Branson West, MO.

Rick described his own employment history with a smile as a “varied career.” As a boy, he delivered the Des Moines Register newspaper to Kamrar subscribers. In his teens, Rick worked at the Phillips 66 gas station on Second Street in Webster City as a service attendant and washing cars on Saturday. He worked as a parts clerk at Seig Auto Parts in Webster City and was transferred to Spencer, Iowa, as manager. He started a business as a self-employed painter in his late teens and early twenties, painting farm buildings and houses around Hamilton County. After joining the painter’s union, he was hired by a painting crew and painted the new dorms at Iowa State University and in the early 1970s he was on the paint crew which painted the tanks and water towers at the fertilizer plant near Duncombe. He enrolled in a course on locksmithing, combined with safe opening. In 1970, Rick moved to Omaha, NE to sell used cars. Coming back to Webster City, he joined his father working in the auto electric business servicing cars, trucks, farm equipment. He set up Gerber Lock and Safe in the front space of Gerber Auto Electric shop on Des Moines Street.

It was during this time in his life Rick officially became an inventor with his concept of an electronic lock. He worked on this project for four years, perfecting it into a working model. A local business owner, Robert “Bob” Ross, was his first investor, to help him get the project moving ahead financially. They became good friends from this partnership and Rick was very grateful for the confidence Bob had in him and his invention.

Rick was a highly intelligent individual and a member of Mensa International. He possessed a deep interest in many topics: music, locks and safes, sporty and unusual cars, World War II, code breaking, foreign languages, photography, college and community theater performance, classic movies and the actors of that era.

He turned so many of these interests into businesses. His kid band starting at age 14, he referred to as “Rick and the Strugglers,” playing with musically inclined friends who enjoyed playing his small collection big band charts as much as he did. Other businesses include Gerber Lock and Safe, Rick Gerber Wedding Photography, Gerber Electronic Lock, and GHW Lock. He owned the Maid Rite restaurant on Main Street for a few months in 1979.

He enjoyed sporty cars, owning classic Thunderbirds and Corvettes through the years. He also owned a 1972 Rolls Royce for a couple years in the 1970’s. He always enjoyed when it drew a crowd and sparked a conversation.

While attending the University of Iowa in the early 1960’s, he had the role of Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady. Years later, in the summer of 1979, some of you may remember, he reprised his Henry Higgins character in Webster City Community Theatre’s production of the famous play.

In 1975, Rick began taking flying lessons. He soon became a private pilot, and purchased his first airplane, a Cessna 172. He later traded the Cessna for a Piper Comanche 180 and owned that plane until his recent passing. Rick loved the challenge of flying and was always an extremely safe pilot, following FFA flight rules precisely. At that time in his life, learning to fly an airplane was his greatest sense of accomplishment.

Rick loved music from an early age. He was fascinated by the “new” sound of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. He would buy Glenn Miller records with his paper route money. His mom would help him find the chords and notes on the family’s piano to see how Miller’s arranging techniques made the unique sound. Soon he began buying more sheet music and a set of music stands. At age fourteen, he encouraged other members of the nearby high school bands in Hamilton County to come play in his first band on weekends for an audience of any size.

In the mid 1970’s, Rick became acquainted with two musicians who remained steady friends until Rick’s passing. Jack Gillespie of Minneapolis area and Henry Mason of Raleigh, NC, were true friends. The three of them exchanged ideas, dreams, and of course Big Band charts throughout their 50 years of friendship.

Rick organized many bands during the 1980s-2000s, picking up a gig here and there, appreciating every one of them. In 2001, he approached the owner of Glenn Miller Productions, Inc. about being issued a license to play private parties in California only. The license was granted and Rick was full of hope. Then came September 11th, 2001, that sent the United States into a worried state of mind and not having social parties. It was very disappointing, but Rick did not give up. Eventually his Glenn Miller Orchestra, Los Angeles Unit, was allowed to expand his license outside California to select foreign countries, including Mexico, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. State of Hawaii. Attaining this level of respect and importance in the world of his narrow entertainment genre was almost unbelievable to Rick, but it was real. He truly was living his dream. Rick was working to get a fifth tour organized to go back to Australia until he became ill in early December. The working relationship with Glenn Miller Productions continued for over 22 years, until Rick’s passing in December. Rick had a great life these last 22 years with Glenn Miller Productions, and will be forever grateful to his band members throughout the years. He worked very hard to build a stellar reputation at all levels in his world of music using his intellect, kindness, honesty, fairness, and humor.

Rick is survived by his wife, Ann, and his cats Maxwell, Nuit, and Molly.

In addition, he is survived by his brother Henry and wife, Susan, his nieces Anne Garay, Susan Nedved, and Paula Gerber-Gore, his nephews Peter Patrou, Michael Patrou, and Judd Gerber. He is also survived by his brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law Steve and Mary Struchen and Tom and Jean Nicklasson, and their respective children Jason and Jennifer Struchen, Chris Struchen, Andy and Sarah Struchen, Jayme and Kiel Neumann, Lea and Luke Ahrens. Rick also is survived by many great nieces and great nephews. Rick was preceded in death by his father Walter H. Gerber and his mother Dorothy Ruth Humphrey Gerber, his sister Marilyn Patrou, and his brother-in-law John Patrou.

A Celebration of Life will be held noon-4:00 p. m, Saturday, June 1, 2024, at the American Legion, 726 Second Street, Webster City, Iowa.

If you wish to make a memorial, a donation of any kind may be sent to your local cat shelter or animal shelter.

A sincere thank you to the CoxHealth Medical Clinic in Branson West, MO, and the caring hospital staff on the fifth and second floors of CoxHealth Medical Center in Branson, MO. They treated Rick with expert care, sincere kindness and respect in his final days.