Gerald Mendenhall

On April 18, Gerald (Jerry) Mendenhall, of Falls Church, Virginia, loving husband of Randa, passed away. Born October 7, 1932, in Richmond, Indiana, to Robert and Bernice McCoy Mendenhall, he was the youngest of five siblings, all deceased. Following high school graduation, Jerry served in the U.S. Navy from 1951 to 1955. During his time on the USS Collett, he made several tours to Korea during the Korean War. He was life-time member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. A graduate of Purdue University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, he then earned his MBA from the University of Chicago. He became a Certified Public Accountant and a general partner of Arthur Young & Company, legacy firm of Ernst & Young, and later for 20 years had his own firm, Mendenhall & Company.

Early in his career as an engineer Jerry led a team that developed one of the first fully integrated engineering-manufacturing resource planning systems, a standard fixture now in all manufacturing companies. As chief of engineering services at United Control Corporation (now part of Honeywell Corporation) he oversaw the development of a major sub-system for the inertial guidance system for the Apollo space module. He also supervised the development of the missile ignition interlock system for the Polaris and Poseidon submarine missiles.

While with Arthur Young, he led a team in Saigon, South Viet Nam, to design and install a financial management system for a large South Vietnamese governmental agency. For this effort, the president of South Viet Nam awarded Jerry a meritorious medal.

After retiring from his company, Jerry became involved in Lake Barcroft, Virginia community activities. He served five years on the homeowners’ association (the Lake Barcroft Association) including several years as treasurer. More recently he served several terms as trustee/treasurer of the Lake Barcroft Watershed Improvement District.

He is survived by Randa, his wife of 45 years.

There will be a celebration of his life at a date and time to be announced.