Alto Automan—Gerry Diemert

Alto Automan

Gerry Diemert

Gerry’s first job was stocking shelves in a grocery store for $1 an hour working part-time after school. From there he moved on to delivering prescriptions for a Pharmacy and then working at an autobody shop for a family friend. That piqued his interest to where he is today; working in the autobody industry. He has decreased his hours now after a close call with his health that left him in the hospital for 10 days during the pandemic. Gerry has taught classes as a tech advisor in various autobody shops and has been part of the training centre and repair process since he started there. He still enjoys work at age 66.

Gerry was also active as a young boy. He loved hanging out with his friends and being the silly face. Gerry was given the opportunity to play all the sports like hockey and golf. His mother basically raised Gerry and his 7 other siblings, as his father was often away working on the CPR. His mother would send a note with the children, put them on the passenger service train and their grandmother would pick them up from the station. He relished the times he spent on the farm near Regina with his cousins.

Gerry and his brothers would ride their bicycles with a 22 rifle on the handle bars and go to an empty field outside of town and shoot gophers. They valued the freedom. The boys would go gopher hunting on their uncle’s farm as well. He would pay them 5 cents a tail. Gerry recalls one of his cousins snagging a few tails from the container that held the tails before they would go out and got paid for them twice. That was until the uncle detected what was transpiring!

Having fun, riding in the Rambler station wagon and living with no fear were the carefree days of growing up. Gerry’s role model was always his father. He remembers walking down the streets of Regina hand in hand with his dad. He learned a lot from him and to this day, Gerry saves the family money by repairing his own vehicles, one of which he won at a car show, and doing carpentry work. His career path of becoming a pilot or a veterinarian never came to fruition, but he was told never to rush through anything. That wasn’t the case when he saw his future wife.

At youth group, Gerry asked his younger sister, “Who is that girl?” and after he met her, told himself that he was going to marry her. The couple’s first date comprised of a hockey game and free food from the concession because his mom worked there. Today, they have two beautiful daughters and a son and 5 grandchildren, ranging from 5 – 15 years of age. They have sung together at weddings, funerals and on the worship team and with Gerry’s beautiful Alto tenor and Karen’s piano skills, they still make music together with their latest addition, a little Dash hound named Ruby. They love spending time with their grandchildren and Gerry prays they would all have a bright future ahead in this uncertain world.