Jerry Fleming

Jerrell “Jerry” Paul Fleming passed away on Tuesday, July 7th, at Christus St. Vincent Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was 82 years old.

Jerry was born in Anaconda, Montana in 1944 and spent most of his childhood in that mining community with his mother Margaret “Peg” Fleming, his father Ray Fleming, and his eleven younger siblings. As the oldest of twelve in a working-class company town, Jerry learned to become resourceful at a very young age. He attended Daly and St. Paul’s elementary schools and served as an altar and choir boy. He recalled getting paid 25 cents for serving and singing Mass, which he promptly spent on donuts at the nearby bakery. He got his first official job at age ten as a pinsetter in a local bowling alley, where he would earn 50 cents per shift manually setting pins. He became an expert bowler and bowled a high series of 709, which stood as the record at the local bowling alley for decades.

It was also at a young age that Jerry began collecting coins. He learned to spot rare pennies, nickels, and dimes, and could be seen as a child visiting the local bank, regularly asking the tellers to swap rolls of pennies or nickels for ones he brought in so he could keep looking for treasures. He remained an avid coin collector, buyer, and seller throughout his life.

Jerry also loved sports and, from an early age, was a devoted fan of two Chicago teams: the White Sox and the Bears. It was never a secret in the house when the Bears scored a touchdown, as his normally gentle voice found its full range cheering for his team.

Jerry graduated from Anaconda Central High School in 1962 as salutatorian and enrolled at the Montana School of Mines in Butte. He slowly worked his way through his undergraduate work over the next several years while taking on a diverse range of work, including underground copper mining in Butte, Montana, teaching math on the Crow Reservation in Lodge Grass, Montana, and working on road crews in national parks including Glacier and Yellowstone. He told stories about a fellow worker in Anaconda introducing him to Bob Dylan, one of his favorite artists throughout his life, and how they would listen to Dylan’s music in the smelter offices during late shifts. He also described how difficult it was to find work during this time, in large part due to the Vietnam War, which he considered the greatest disruptive political event of his lifetime. He was drafted himself to the army in 1968 but was given a medical discharge following a month of basic training at Fort Lewis due to having flat feet—a circumstance he said he remained grateful for through the rest of his life.

It was during his early college years that Jerry discovered what would become one of the great passions of his life: bridge. By his early twenties, he was already a certified director and a Life Master. His enthusiasm for every aspect of the game—playing, teaching, and later serving in administrative and leadership roles with the District 17 Board of Directors and the American Contract Bridge League—spanned more than sixty years.

In 1969, he began dating the love of his life, Marion Tobin, and the two wed in December of that year. He described how getting married provided the necessary motivation he needed to finish his undergraduate degree, and he graduated from Montana Tech in January 1971. He began working in the Anaconda Company’s data processing department in Butte as a programmer trainee. There he learned early computer programming, using handwritten code and punch cards.

His first daughter, Jenny, was born in March of 1971, and a second, Robyn, arrived in May of 1974. He instantly relished being a dad to girls, even if it sometimes terrified him.

In 1977 he was given the opportunity to transfer to the Anaconda Company’s uranium facility in Grants, New Mexico. He moved his family from Montana to New Mexico, and though it was a big change in weather, geography, and culture, he loved New Mexico immediately. He and Marion stayed in the state for the rest of his life. While in Grants he developed a love for gardening, especially vegetables. He became a certified Master Gardener in 2011.

Of all the positions he held, his work at the uranium facility in Grants was his favorite. He began as a data processing manager and, just one year later, was promoted to administration manager for the entire facility. Unfortunately, his time there was cut short. Following the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident in 1979, public concern and declining demand led to a severe downturn in the uranium industry. The Anaconda uranium facility in Grants closed in 1981, and Jerry played a major role in overseeing the mine’s multi-year shutdown.

The family remained in Grants during this period, and in 1982 Jerry’s youngest daughter, April, was born.

Also during this time, Marion convinced him he could return to graduate school, and Jerry enrolled in the R. O. Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico, where he earned a master’s degree in management. Encouraged by classmates from Los Alamos National Laboratory, he applied for a position at the Lab and was hired into the programming department in 1984. Over the next 24 years, he served in a variety of roles, including programmer, systems analyst, data processing/accounting liaison, materials manager, and ultimately financial manager for the Laboratory’s telecommunications division. He retired from the Lab in 2008.

On New Year’s Eve 1987 tragedy struck Jerry and his family when a drunk driver struck the small car driven by Jerry’s oldest daughter, Jenny. She died of her injuries shortly following the accident, and it devastated Jerry and his family. He described being unable to function for months following the accident, and the pain of this loss never quite left him. The Lab formed a special committee to work with the New Mexico legislature on the problem of drunk driving and Jerry served on that committee for the next few years.

One day in the months following the accident, Jerry was sitting in the family’s living room when Marion placed a copy of James Michener’s Alaska in his lap. Inside, she had written a simple message: “Let’s go.” Then she added, “You plan it.” And he did. Jerry threw himself into organizing an epic six-week journey through the Yukon and Alaska with Marion and their two daughters. He later described it as the best trip of his life—an adventure that may have sparked the passion for travel that stayed with him for the rest of his years.

During his years in Los Alamos, he also deepened his involvement in the bridge community. After joining the Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club, he served multiple terms in every club and unit leadership position.

Beginning in the 1980s, Jerry served on the District 18 Board of Directors. In 1998, he was elected to the American Contract Bridge League’s National Board of Directors, beginning a twelve-year tenure that included service as ACBL President in 2009. His board responsibilities took him across North America and overseas to major tournaments, where he met and competed alongside some of the game's most accomplished players, as well as notable figures such as Microsoft's Bill Gates.

Jerry was a certified club director for many years and later became a Sectional Tournament Director. In the final year of his life, he achieved a longtime goal when he earned the rank of Diamond Life Master, surpassing 5,000 ACBL masterpoints and reaching one of the highest milestones in the game he loved.

Starting in 2010, Jerry and Marion became highly sought-after bridge instructors and game directors for multiple luxury cruise lines. For the next decade they taught bridge and sailed around the world, visiting six continents and too many countries to count.

In 2018, one of Jerry’s other great loves came into his life: his granddaughter Maggie. He was a fiercely loving grandpa and was completely enamored with Maggie from her first moments on earth.

Throughout his years in Los Alamos, Jerry devoted himself to the community and firmly believed in the value of hard work and service. For decades, he supported the Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club, and his bridge classes—offered both locally and on cruises around the world—introduced hundreds of new players to the game. He also worked closely with Betty Ehart in support of the Los Alamos Senior Center. In 2020, he was elected to the Board of Directors of the Los Alamos Retirement Community and served as Board President during the final year of his life. Remarkably, he remained active in that role until retiring from the Board just days before his passing.

Jerry's life was marked by many professional and community contributions. But above all, he will be remembered as a devoted husband, father, and grandfather. He always had a smile to share, loved the music of Bob Dylan, Neil Diamond, Elton John, and Bonnie Tyler, and never lost his affection for Broadway musicals. He could often be found watching Breaking Bad or Law & Order while sorting coins or planning the week's bridge games. Above all, he loved his family deeply, and they loved him in return. Together with his many friends and the community he cherished, they will carry his memory with them always.

Jerry was preceded in death by his parents, Margaret and Raymond Fleming; his daughter, Jennifer; his sister, Lynn; and his brother, John. He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Marion Fleming; his two daughters, Robyn and April Fleming; their partners, Mahin Kooros and Ed Guernsey; his beloved granddaughter, Margaret “Maggie” Guernsey; his surviving siblings Diana Young (Mike), Ray Fleming, Dan Fleming (Patty), Tom Fleming (Patty), Mary Disbrow (David), David Fleming (Keri), and Maggie Anderson (Tony); and many nieces and nephews.

A service to remember and honor Jerry will be held at the Betty Ehart Senior Center in Los Alamos on July 22, 2026, at 2 PM. Cremation and arrangements are in the hands of The Rivera Funeral Home. The family wishes to thank the staff at Christus St. Vincent for their care during the last days of his life. Contributions can be made to the Betty Ehart Senior Center in Los Alamos, the Los Alamos Duplicate Bridge Club, or a charity of your choice.