Mill Valley, CA

“Jer” was born in 1946 in Newton, Massachusetts, to Charles and Germaine Kirkpatrick. His family moved to Massapequa, NewYork, then to the Chicago suburbs where he distinguished himself in high school by earning Eagle Scout in addition to being a star varsity football lineman.

In college his excellence on the Dartmouth football team earned him accolades for the 1967 season and he graduated with a history major cum laude in 1968. He was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Because he morally objected to the Vietnam War, he refused to take the Oath of Induction when he was drafted in 1969.

After college, Jer moved with his family to Marin county where he married Sandra Lamke while he earned a law degree from UC Berkeley in 1976. His son Vincent was born in 1983, and Jer passed to him his exceptional intellectual curiosity and athletic talent.

He led a peaceful life until his wife's passing in 2018 and ultimately succumbed to esophageal cancer six years later. He is survived by his son, Vincent, now a surgeon in Visalia, CA, Where he lives with his wife, Rose Phillips, and their children Suyana and Levin. Other survivors include Jer’s younger sister, Kit Schlich, of Pahoa, Hawaii, and his Lamke in-laws—Greg, Donna, Mark, Mike, Mary, Terry and Vickie—who loved him dearly.

The family wishes to express its gratitude to Kaiser-Permanente’s End of Life Options Program and Continuum Hospice.