A 519Kb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE
In the early hours of June 6, Jenny & Jerry Penry experienced a devastating loss. A fire started in their garage and destroyed their home and most of its contents. Jerry, a licensed surveyor and author, lost 30 plus years of collected items and a lot of historical research. I’ve known Jerry for more than 16 years, and although there are a lot of surveyors in our country involved in restoration and perpetuation of important survey points, only Jerry has written extensively about his efforts. You can find his many survey writings and pictures here: http://www.penryfamily.com/surveying/main.html. He’s also written about Nebraska’s fatal air crashes of WWII, which can be found here: http://www.nebraskaaircrash.com/
Like so many of the authors in the magazine, I’ve only met Jerry once in person, and found him to be a humble guy, and like so many Midwesterners, fiercely independent. Although profoundly appreciative, he expressed reservations about accepting money. I explained that GoFundMe is how folks do it nowadays, it’s not welfare or a handout, but rather just the recognition that catastrophic recovery can use help. Selfishly, one of my first inquiries had to do with his computers and research. He reassured me that he had recently backed everything up, so the digital part of his research has been preserved. He also admitted that even though insurance will cover a lot of the damage, there will be an enormous amount of out-of-pocket expense. If you have enjoyed his writings, please consider visiting https://www.gofundme.com/jenny-jerry-house-fire and expressing it.
Marc Cheves is the editor of the magazine.
A 519Kb PDF of this article as it appeared in the magazine—complete with images—is available by clicking HERE