From L.A. to Murray Bridge, Jerry Wilson is a community man

Jerry fell in love with the idea of living away from the United States during his time in the US Air Force.

Having to spend years in South Korea and Italy opened his mind to the wider world, and not just America.

After completing his military obligations, Jerry returned to America and completed his degree in mathematics at the University of Oregon.

It was then, in 1974, that a fortunate opportunity arose.

"There was a poster up in my university saying 'Wanted: teachers, two year contract, South Australia'," Jerry said.

"I said, 'I always wanted to go to Australia' so I took it and I came, and I never left."

Jerry began his journey as a teacher at the Murray Bridge High School, teaching Maths and Technical Studies.

It was during his time at Murray Bridge High School that Jerry was able to get a government grant to build a workshop and start teaching Motor Mechanics at the school.

Jerry taught at the high school for 16 years, and in that time he was also elected as a member for the Rural City of Murray Bridge, designed, constructed and managed Murray Bridge Self Storage - the only self storage company in Murray Bridge -, began as director and secretary of WILANDSON NOMINEES PTY. LTD., and on top of that, Jerry coached, umpired and played softball, T-ball and baseball.

In 1991, Jerry took a break from teaching and began a building company to build units for Murray Bridge but a year later, before he was able to return to teaching, the school was subjected to cut backs.

"I went to go back and Unity had opened by then and they wanted to cut back on the teachers from the high school, a couple from tech studies had to go, and I was one of them," Jerry said.

Jerry took this in his stride and instead became a TAFE lecturer for Pre-Apprentice Motor Mechanics and Computerised Accounting, before giving up teaching for good in 1993.

"I loved it, I really enjoyed teaching, but in the end, the administration got to me," he said.

Since retiring from teaching, Jerry had a lot more time to give back to the community, joining the Rotary Club of Murray Bridge, the Auto Collectors Club of Murray Bridge, the Murraylands Regional Development Board and once again, an elected member for the Rural City of Murray Bridge Council.

During his time in Council, Jerry was able to accomplish some significant achievements, including renaming 18 of the 20 duplicate named streets in Murray Bridge.

This became beneficial for emergency services, as in times of emergencies, showing up on the wrong side of town at a street with the same name became a serious issue.

Another of Jerry's proud achievements includes the purchasing and maintaining of the Riverglades Wetlands.

Originally realtors planned to sell the wetlands in hopes of building a new marina, but the community enjoyed the wildlife and wanted to maintain it as a wetland.

"So I contacted the vendor, and they said they wanted $20,000, so we passed the hat around, gathered up $20,000 and went to see him to buy it," Jerry said.

"He said 'so that's for the water, there's also a freehold title from the water to the road, another $30,000' so we passed the hat around again and we bought that, and we got about 100 families and we maintain it.

"The original people that did it, we're all getting old so we decided that maybe it's time to sell it to Council."

"Our objective was to stop it being a marina, which we have done," he said

Since Jerry's retirement from fulltime work and more recently Council, he has had a lot more time to focus on another of his passions, motor mechanics, or more specifically, restoring vintage cars.

Most recently, Jerry has spent the past four years restoring an old Fiat, and since he has finished, he is proud to see the car in all its former glory.

"I spent five years changing a Corvette, I bought it as a wreck and converted it from left to right hand drive," Jerry said.

"My Porsche that I still have, I have had for 42 years now, I found it sitting in a paddock in Renmark, windows open it was really rusty, it was a mess and I've completely taken that apart, nut and bolt, twice."

Jerry's passion for the Murray Bridge community continues to shine as he participates regularly in car shows with the Auto Collectors Club of Murray Bridge and continues to own Murray Bridge Self Storage.

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