April 11, 1939 – May 24, 2017
Gerald L. Costello
Jerry Costello passed away peacefully in his Redmond home on May 24, 2017, surrounded by his wife and children. A funeral mass in his honor will be celebrated at St. Jude’s Church in Redmond, Washington on June 24th at 10 am.
Gerald (Jerry) was born on April 11, 1939, the 4th and youngest child of Dennis Costello and Frances (Fuchs) Costello, of Clarkston, WA. His siblings were Del Costello, currently of Portland, Ore, the late James Costello (Elizabeth) of Greenbrae, Ca., and the late Marcella (Robert Jaspers) of Wenatchee.
Jerry is survived by his wife of 51 years, Barbara (Maggard) of Kansas City Mo., daughter, Christine (Spunaugle); Christine’s husband Eric, grandchildren, Tommy, Sarah and Michael Spunaugle, son Sean, Sean’s wife, Kristin Farr Costello, grandchildren Sadie and Lily Costello, in-laws, Mrs. Regina Cox, Dr. Patricia Neal, Col. Charles Neal, Joseph Maggard, Dr. Michael Maggard, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Jerry was a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in Clarkston and attended elementary school at Holy Family, where he frequently served as an altar boy at daily Mass. He was very active at Clarkston High School, where he played football, basketball, and baseball, participated in student government, and performed in several bands.
Jerry followed his older brothers to Washington State University where he pledged the same fraternity they had, Phi Sigma Kappa, and received a degree in business with a minor in accounting. Jerry participated in ROTC and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June 1962, upon his graduation from WSU. He was a proud patriot and served in the US Army at Fort Benning Ga., and Fort Ord, Ca., where he was honorably discharged as a Captain in July, 1964.
Jerry worked in the music business for several years as co-owner of a distributorship of tapes and records in the Bay Area, and in 1967 moved to Seattle. Jerry worked as an international recruiter in the tech industry, eventually owning and managing his company, EFG, Inc. which he ran for over 30 years.
Jerry was active at Holy Family Parish in Kirkland, where he served as a Eucharistic minister and president of the Holy Family School parents club. He also became deeply involved in a group that helped establish Eastside Catholic High School. Jerry and his family moved to Redmond in 1976 where they were among the first members of St. Jude’s Parish.
Jerry was a gifted singer and always loved music. He was a loyal member of the Skippers Barbershop Chorus, attending the national convention in Kansas Cit
y with the group. Jerry was a lifelong fan of jazz, and studied alto jazz saxophone with Jerry Coker in Monterey, CA.
Jerry loved nature, wildlife, and animals. With his sleepy family trailing along, he loved to “hunt”for animals and photograph them at dawn in their natural habitats, such as the forests and mountains of Washington and Oregon, and especially Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons.
Above all else Jerry loved his family and always put them first. He was inordinately proud of his children and grandchildren, and bragged about them on every occasion. He was a kind, gentle, thoughtful man and will be greatly missed.