Obituary: Jerry Arthur Lake

Jerry Arthur Lake, 90, of Windermere, Florida, died March 6, 2024.

Jerry was born in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1933 to William Perry Lake Jr. and Violet Larner Lake. He attended Landon HS and Jacksonville University before graduating from the University of Florida in 1955 with a bachelor’s degree and later a master’s in mechanical engineering.

His first job was at the Bendix Corporation in Baltimore, Maryland, where he worked on a top-secret project with the U.S. Navy on the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN-571).

He met Patricia Ann Davis in Jacksonville on a blind date, and they married a year later in 1956.

In 1958, he accepted a new job and moved to Orlando to work at what is now Lockheed Martin. He worked his entire career on the guidance system of the U.S. Army’s Pershing ballistic missile. His career was cut short in 1985 when he was hit head-on in a car accident.

In 1959, Jerry and Pat moved to the Town of Windermere on Lake Down. He helped start the original Windermere Little League in 1971. His lifetime hobbies included boating, saltwater fishing, real estate investing, genealogy, troubleshooting any problem and his favorite - working on engines of any kind.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and his siblings, William Perry Lake III, Arlene Garrett, Herbert Lake, Thomas Lake and Robert Lake.

He is survived by his loving wife, Patricia Davis Lake; sons, Don (Debi) and Jay; grandchildren, Danielle (Brett) Evans, Bethany Stiles, Julie, Davis and Violet; and great-grandson, Bode Evans.

Services will be held Wednesday, March 13, at Dobbs Funeral Home 430 N. Kirkman Road, Orlando, FL 32811. Visitation is at 10 a.m., and the service is at 11 a.m. Burial will follow at the Winter Garden Cemetery.