Jerry – (Character Dossier)

As I work in ds106 alongside noir106, assignments sometimes are based upon a character that was developed in the first weeks. Character themes are not a requirement for open course participants and there are plenty of ways to complete assignments or choose assignments from the banks without one.

Looking at the archives of individuals who have worked this framework, a theme seems to have a positive edge for cohorts. There was Wire – looking at things thru a TV show, summer trailers, and other themes that seemed to help participants move thru with a thread and build skills within a parameter so that you didn’t eat up your time thinking of a new angle, but the actual work.

Spring 2015 UMW students are using the theme NOIR films. I am now in week 5 and can see if I had a character, some of my work would be more part of the group and be easier for feedback purposes.

My target is still to gain skills to be able to begin to use all the content I have from family. So in that thread, I am going to use my Dad as my character. He had a great way of looking at life and the things that happened in his life. He also lived during times that were different than mine and his stories of how things were seem fitting as “character” material. As I use him, his life will be a foundation of my character  – with some truths and some elaborations.

JERRY 

My character is my Dad – but with creative license to embellish the truth for the purposes of creating in ds106.

Name: Gerald Elmer Gruenewald –
Nickname: Jerry
Birthdate: May 30, 1937 (Memorial Day)
Place of Birth: Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA
Occupation: Mechanical Engineer
Marital Status: Married
No.of Children: 2 daughters
High School: Senior Picture

2009 (4 years before passing away)

Bio:

Jerry is a handsome man at every age. He never had to have school supplies in high school. The girls were more than happy to make sure he had what he needed in class when he needed it – whether it was pen, pencil. paper or other. His mother was of Polish decent and his father German. His father passed away when he was 16 from cancer and Jerry became the man of the house for his mother and brother Bryan – 7 years younger. He fell in love with DixieLee at the age of 18 and eloped at age 19. They were married for 52 years before she passed away. He was a star on the high school football team and popular in his class. He started as a machine apprentice out of high school and continued to learn and perfect his skills. While he had some college credits, he never entered a full program or completed a degree, but he became the first Wisconsin state certified professional engineer based on his proficiency and expertise over the completion of a college degree. He built 3 homes, loved woodworking, cars, and especially family. He was a Green Packer fan.

Favorite Food: Pretty much anything with lots of flavor. Seafood – fresh was a favorite later in life.

Favorite Drink: Whiskey on the rocks. There were those Manahatten times in early years.

Favorite Color: He said he didn’t have one because he was color blind. – But it seemed to be blue.

Favorite Book: Loved books on local history

Favorite Movie: 

Favorite Posesion: License Plates of every car he drove, his vinyl record albums

Personal Motto: Fantastic!

I can already tell this might be helpful – there is so much about a person we take for granted or think we know, but never really asked them. This will be good for looking into the rest of our family as well as capturing some of these things from those of us still around.