Obituary of Saundra Louise (Lee) Gere

Saundra Louise (Lee) Gere passed away on February 24, 2023 after battling Alzheimer’s disease for the last several years. Lee was born on May 8, 1942 in Hamilton, Ohio and grew up in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After high school she graduated from beauty school and worked as a hairdresser until she met and married her first husband, Verlyn LaMonte Mettler. They moved back to his home state of South Dakota where she worked as a teacher’s aide for her 4th grade class. After Vern passed away she married Donald Dean Gere and moved to Broomfield, Colorado in 1978 where they ran the Rocky Mountain News distributorship for over 25 years.

Don was also responsible for introducing her to the world of street rods where she thoroughly enjoyed many years of fun cars and car club friends. They built several street rods including a 1937 Packard that carried them all over the US and into Canada for vacations, rod runs and car shows. When their car club added matching retro camper trailers to pull behind their cars, they were quite a sight going down the highway.

Lee is survived by daughters Tamara (John) Cryer and Jennifer Mettler; stepson Mathew Gere; father-in-law Arley Engelsgaard; grandchildren Harley Palmer, Rebekah Anderson, Courtney Sheffer & Jade Gere; great grandchildren Mary, Jaxson and Talim Palmer, Nevaeh Martin, Caiden Filer and Bladeyn Hill; nieces and nephews Brad (Debbie) Crowe, Brian Crowe, Brenda Crowe, Cody (Jennifer) Doerfler-Hoffman. She was preceded in death by husbands Verlyn LaMonte Mettler and Donald Dean Gere; parents Roy Jesse Houser and Margaret Helen (Swisher) Houser; mother-in-laws Verla Mettler and Arlene (Gere) Engelsgaard; father-in-laws Adolph Mettler and Ned Gere; brothers James Leroy Houser and Frederick Glendon Houser; sister-in-laws Janice Kay Gere, Bonnie (Gere) Hoffman and Sharon (Mettler) Ford; nephew Revy Dean Quiram and stepson Scott Joseph Gere.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Alzheimer’s Association http://www.alz.org or another dementia research or support organization if you prefer. To donate to the Alzheimer’s Association in memory of Mom please click here Make a Donation in Memory of Lee Gere

Sandy, Lee, Mom, Aunt Lee and Grandma - we love and miss you.