Gerald "Gerry" Glaser

Lifelong North Dakotan Judge Gerald G. Glaser passed away on April 23, 2018, at Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease. He was 85. Family, friends, and former colleagues are invited to a gathering to celebrate Gerry’s life on Saturday, May 12, anytime between 2 and 4 PM, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck. Born in Mandan on Sept. 26, 1932, Gerry graduated from Mandan High School, Bismarck Junior College, the University of North Dakota, and UND Law School. Upon admission to the bar and a move to Bismarck in the early ‘60s, he worked for several governmental entities before starting his own law firm (Wheeler & Glaser, later Wheeler, Daner & Glaser). In 1964 he became a partner in the firm of Wolf, Glaser & Milhollan, during which time he also served as assistant state’s attorney of Burleigh County and thereafter served as alternate municipal judge by appointment of the Bismarck City Commission. In October 1971, Gerry’s career continued to flourish as he was appointed County Judge by the Burleigh County Commission and was subsequently elected judge in 1975. In 1977 he was elected District Judge, a position he held until his retirement. In law school, Gerry served on the staff of the North Dakota Law Review. During his working life he was a member or chair of many professional organizations. Career highlights include preparing reports that led to the introduction of the public defender system in the area and small claims courts in the state, serving on a committee that developed the handbook for procedures to be used by all municipal judges in the state, and writing several articles for law journals. Two of his professional achievements are of particular significance. In 1983 he was invited by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Warren Burger to help identify and develop solutions to problems with discovery rules. But perhaps his most notable feat involved five teenagers appearing before him, charged with throwing eggs in a theater. They were fined $10 each and ordered to write, “I will not be a bad egg” 1000 times. Indicative of Gerry’s perpetual glint of humor and fine sense of logic, an article about this clever sentencing appeared in many newspapers around the country. In his personal life, his hobbies included golf (he did get several holes-in-one), his Elks membership, his many friendships, and music, including participation in an informal barbershop quartet with high school friends, the original tapes of which provided hours of amusement for his children. Gerry will be missed by his wife of 63 years, Dorothy Pedersen Glaser; children, Kathy from Nashville, Dave (Carrie Schnitzler) from Fargo, Mark (Nancy) from Fargo, Carole Sullivan (Dan) from Livingston, Montana; grandchildren, Kristen Glaser, Dan Glaser, Ginny Glaser, and Henry Sullivan; great-grandchildren, Trinity and Mason; family friend, Jennifer Freeman; in-laws, Clem Weber, LaVerne Pedersen, and Jim Olson; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, George and Minnie (Nelson); sisters, Elsie Boehm and Dolores Weber; in-laws, Chris Boehm, Jack Pedersen, Eleanor Pedersen, Bob Pedersen, and Carole Olson; and several nephews. If so desired, donations may be given to Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center, 2425 Hillview Ave., Bismarck, ND, 58501.