GERALD WILLIAM FOCHTMAN (1951-2024)

Jerry was born and grew up in Charlevoix, Michigan, and was one of four sons to Bonnie and Richard Fochtman.

He went to school at Western Michigan University and met the love of his life in Kalamazoo. He married Donna Armstrong in Traverse City, Michigan, on October 11, 1981. A marriage that lasted more than 40 years.

The couple moved from Michigan to Houston, Texas, in 1982 and in 1986 they became parents to triplets Lindsey, Jason and Krystal. Three years later, they added another son, Joseph.

In his personal time, Jerry was an avid collector of fractional currency. A passion he began when he was younger collecting coins. He later won several awards for his knowledgeable presentations on various fractional and historical topics.

As his sons grew up, Jerry picked up his involvement in Boy Scouts of America, which he had earned the rank of Eagle Scout as a young man. He saw both Jason and Joseph obtain the rank of Eagle Scout and remained involved in various leadership roles well past his sons' involvement.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Donna, children: Lindsey, Jason (Sarah), Krystal (Thomas) and Joseph, grandchildren: Emma, Julia and Abigail and brothers: David Fochtman and Mike Fochtman.

"Jerry was an excellent exhibiter and we got to visit a lot at shows, when we were able to get together at shows like Memphis and Kansas city. Jerry was originally from Michigan so whenever we visited over the internet he would always ask me how the weather was in Michigan. I know he was active in Scouting, as he told me several times about his involvement in Camping trips with the Boy Scouts. We always enjoyed our conversations and he did a terrific job putting together our Newsletters. I will miss our contacts and his terrific Newsletters."

"It's with a sad heart that I write this memorial for Jerry Fochtman. He was a diligent editor and took great pride in the Newsletter. I was proud of my contributions and his stewardship. Jerry and I were friends for 20 years. His enthusiasm for the hobby had no bounds – it was contagious, and I was glad to be along for the ride. We had countless conversations about Fractionals – he was the first person I'd reach out if I had a question. And you know what, 95% of the time he had the answer. I know there were many things he wanted to accomplish in the hobby, and I'm dismayed he never got to finish them. I learned much about the Fractional Currency through him - especially on the more esoteric aspects like Negative Essays, Experimentals and Specimen notes.

Jerry always strived to educate and make us all better writers and better people. A few years ago, Jerry phoned me and spent 2 hours teaching me the finer points on editing, the use of Photoshop and how to manipulate images in articles. His lesson had a profound impact on my writing and I'm forever appreciative for his guidance.

One of the proudest achievements we accomplished together was an article we co-wrote for the SPMC Paper Money magazine on the 4th issue seal plates on the 10¢ Liberty Fractional. When the BEP sent all of its archives to the Smithsonian, if was Jerry who spent countless hours cataloguing all the Fractional plates after the Smithsonian scanned them onto their website. Unfortunately, the Smithsonian had no index, so Jerry went through thousands of plates to put together a cohesive, organized list with images. We used that information for an important article last year that finally gave us clarity on all the 4th issue seal plate numbers (10¢ Liberty, 15¢ Columbia, 25¢ Washington and 50¢ Lincoln). It also gave us a clearer picture of the sheet layout for the different types. We learned that the Fr. 1257 plain paper Fractional was issued in sheets of 25. The blue end Fr. 1259 was laid out in a tete-beche format of 16 (2x8). This information was unknown and it was through Jerry's efforts that we gained a bit more knowledge of our beloved hobby of Fractionals.

For all of us lucky to call Jerry a friend, we will miss you very much. We are working to keep the FCCB going and to continue the newsletter – it's the least we can do to honor his memory.

We love you Jerry…"

To read the complete online obituary, see:
Gerald William Fochtman (https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/kingwood-tx/gerald-fochtman-11670761)