Gerry Dunlap learned to accept heartache, but never dwelled on it—preferring instead to enjoy a life of accomplishments that many say was decades ahead of her time. "She was very progressive," says her daughter, Jane Butterfield. "I can't imagine what she would be doing today if she had been born 30 years later."
Geraldine Jeffry Roach Dunlap, '45, died on October 23 from a stroke. She was 88.
She was the daughter of an attorney who encouraged her to apply to Stanford, although he dissuaded her from trying to get a spot in medical school that could be filled by a man. "It was the way of the world then," says Butterfield, president of Community Bank of San Joaquin. "She always told me she was living vicariously through me."
With health education degree in hand, Gerry Jeffry helped establish a number of clinics in Northern California to treat polio victims. Working with polio patients at the county hospital in Stockton, she met Francis Roach, a urologist. They married in 1952. When she wasn't being a wife, mother or volunteer, she was active in local and state Republican politics.
But tragedy struck in 1974, when a mentally ill patient walked into Francis Roach's office, then shot and killed him. Not long after, Gerry Roach married widower Carter "Pat" Dunlap, a father of two. On their first anniversary, while playing golf, he died from a heart attack. "It was horrible," recalls Nadeen Womble, Dunlap's best friend since high school. "But she always rose above all the tragedies."
Dunlap—an excellent cook who served her daughter polenta, crepes or banana fritters when most kids were breakfasting on cereal—started the Alder Market with Womble. The gourmet grocery store, which included a bistro and catering service, was a rarity at the time.
In 1993, Dunlap co-founded Stockton Beautiful in an effort to return the city to its glory of years past. The grassroots fundraising group has planted more than 3,000 oak trees throughout the city, roses on and off freeway ramps, and a rose garden at Victory Park. In 1994, she was named Stocktonian of the Year. Longtime friend Mimi Eberhardt says, "There's a large void in the city without her."
Dunlap is survived by her daughter and her stepchildren, Carter Dunlap and Natilee Meacham.
Tracy Seipel is a writer for the San Jose Mercury News.
