To all our Oak Friends –

Jerry’s ready smile and unfailing wisdom will be sorely missed in our industry. He always added a valuable perspective to any conversation I was fortunate enough to have with him. His memory will live on in all the people he touched and all the good work he did. We are thinking of you all and share your loss.
On behalf of all of us at Commonfund,
Sue Carter

Jerry,

You were for decades an industry colleague, a mentor and most importantly, a friend. We miss your kindness, intellect and wisdom and our lives are a bit more lonely without you. But we feel your spirit and know you are indeed in a better place now. Rest in peace Jerry.
Michael Chu, Catterton Partners

Condolences

Oak just lost one of its most honest and reliable partners – my sympathies to his family.
Neil MacNeill

Jerry,

In the past week not a day has gone by where I haven’t had multiple conversations about you and what you meant to others. So many in the Consumer, Retail, Restaurant, Investment Banking and Private Equity communities were touched by your wisdom, your integrity and your moral compass. You had a significant impact on the careers of many many people, and left a legacy which will carry on for a long time. I will miss our golf games at Martis, your annual stock pick, and most of all your guidance and genuine laughter. You will be greatly missed. Susan and I send our thoughts to Ellen and your family.
Murray Huneke

Dear Ellen and the Oak Family,

I am stunned to learn of Jerry’s passing. He was a true friend and one of the pillars that kept DLJ strong during some difficult early days. His professionalism and loyalty were an inspiration to us all. He was the best — tops in his field and a wonderful human being. I was not aware of how extensive Jerry’s work was in financing student aid through the Gallagher Foundation, and I will be making a contribution to this cause. I have been blessed with the friendship of a wonderful guy — Jerry — for nearly 50 years. Please accept my deepest sympathy on your great loss.
Sincerely, Dick Jenrette

To the Oak Family,

I was so saddened to hear of Jerry’s passing. He was a unique and amazing man and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him. Over the years, I often find myself trying to channel the integrity and clarity of thought that Jerry brought to every situation he encountered. His investment acumen and ability to identify and grow interesting retail concepts into businesses that have impacted countless lives speaks for itself. I feel immensely lucky to have worked and learned from him. He will be missed.
Munir Javeri

Condolences

I am so honored to have gotten to know Jerry these past 7 years. He was always so friendly and caring to everyone he met. Always ready with some humor to make me laugh. We will miss you greatly here in the West. My thoughts and prayers are with you all at this time.
Tralynn Gray

Condolences

Jerry was truly beloved by all of us at Oak as he personified being a great partner and colleague. His sudden passing is a terrible loss for the entire Oak organization and I along with everyone will miss him. Jerry’s honorable legacy of building a wonderful family and career will remain an inspiration for all who knew him.
Bandel Carano

Jerry

Your warmth, wisdom, wit and thoughtfulness will be greatly missed. My deepest condolences to the Gallagher family.
Laura Miller

Condolences

Your wisdom, thoughtfulness, and friendship was something special. You will always be in our hearts and a great example for all of us.
John Beletic

Condolences

I am so very sorry to hear of Jerry passing away.
He will indeed be sadly missed.
Michael Ashall, Vencap

Jerry

Jerry embodied what is best in a venture capitalist. He was extremely bright, hard working, and personable. He approached each opportunity as a chance to bring together a great management team, an exciting concept and enabling capital to build a lasting, growing and profitable company. Rare amongst his peers, he possessed exceptional analytical skills with an ability to imagine and envision how a dream could blossom into something great. He never wavered from his standard of unimpeachable integrity, and he clearly loved what he was doing. He was an uncommon talent and an uncommon individual. We will miss him.
Tony Downer

Oak team:

I am so sorry to learn this news. What a gentleman. What an investor. What a person.
Peter Denious, FLAG Captial.

Condolences

I first met Jerry during an interview in Minneapolis in 1989. I remember being very impressed by Jerry following our initial meeting and that in part was one of the reasons I elected to join the PetSmart team.

Over the years, I had the opportunity to work with Jerry in a number of different circumstances and never failed to be impressed by his intelligence, character, integrity and insight. Most importantly, Jerry was a very real human being who understood and related to people at all levels. He was a natural mentor and leader.

He will be missed.
Sam Parker

To our friends at Oak,

We were deeply saddened to hear of Jerry’s passing. Our deepest condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues. He will be sorely missed.
Marc de Saint Phalle, Managing Director, Director of Private Equity Bessemer Trust

Deepest Repect

Jerry represented the class and introspection which defines Oak. As a “lucky” entrepreneur who benefitted from Jerry’s counsel. Will especially remember his warmth, encouragement and smile. I am smiling back to Jerry in his memory.
With deepest respect and sympathy to Jerry’s family.
Sherry Snyder, BioCatalyst International Inc.

Hi All,

Sad to know sudden demise of Jerry. Jerry was a great visionary and we can see his impact in industry at large . We pray to God let the departed soul Rest in Peace and give strength to his near and dear ones to bear the loss of losing him.
Amreek Sandhu, CFO, Ybrant Digital Limited

Jerry,

We all are still reeling from the suddenness of your departure. Up until this past week, you were so incredibly vibrant and as mission driven as ever. Your contributions to Oak have been immeasurable both as an investor, partner and friend. You always set the highest standards for all of us and then led by example. We will continuously refer back to your life lessons that have influenced us all. And your commitment to family, faith and community defined you as a person. The aspirations of your Foundation where noteworthy and were matched by the great number of lives you so positively affected. We are all so blessed to have known you Jerry. May your soul rest in eternally peace.
Fred Harman

Condolences

In sadness for his death, but with appreciation for his life, Jerry will be remembered as a warm and exceptionally talented man. My deepest condolences to his family and colleagues.
Elizabeth Holthe, BTIG

Condolences

From my first dinner interview in Minneapolis, to our last board discussion in San Francisco, Jerry has been a sage guide for what it means to be a rigorous thinker, detail-oriented investor and, above all, positive inspiration for human values and integrity. He will be greatly missed, his loss hangs deeply in the One Medical community, and we offer his family any love and support we can provide.
Tom Lee, One Medical

Condolences

Sorry to hear the sad news about Jerry. I never had the opportunity to meet him, but I know what an impressive and tight-knit group Oak is and can only imagine this is a terrible loss.

Best wishes,
Justin, Duedil

Dear Friends from Oak,

Of course, we all knew of Jerry’s impact on the industry. I had met and talked to him over the years. I appreciated his value system and his candid answers. It is a great loss for mankind.
On behalf of the Red Herring team, our deepest condolences to his family and his lifelong partners.
Sincerely,
Alex Vieux, Chairman, Red Herring

Condolences

My sincere condolences to you and the Oak’s team.
Best regards
Imad Ghandour, CedarBridge

Sympathy

Extending my deep sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the Oak team and those left behind.
Marie-Therese Afif

Jerry,

I’m incredibly grateful that I was able to meet you and work with you starting a little over fifteen years ago. Watching how you conducted yourself with everyone around you deeply inspired me. I was in awe of your grace, kindness and capability. Thank you for being my role model for how to act as a venture capitalist and more importantly, how to engage in life. You touched many lives and you’ll be sorely missed.

Rest in peace,
Gus Tai, Trinity Ventures

To all on the Oak Team,

So sorry to hear of his passing. He was a bright light on the Xio Board. His enthusiasm for the business and his tenacity are what I will remember the most. Nothing worse than to hear him say “Well, I’m just a retail guy , BUT”. What followed was always precisely communicated and always right on point for the business. He had that special gift of wry humor that Irishmen have when they are born on St Patrick’s day. I’ll miss him.
Casey Powell, Eagle II Consulting

Condolences

I wanted to send my condolences on Jerry Gallagher’s passing. He was an amazing man.
Brad Cohen, Ybrant

Jerry was remarkable.

Given a choice he would pick the most challenging route. In college, he majored in Aeronautical Engineering, which required that rigorous work be handed in….no BS; plus, an extra course had be taken for two years (compared to my Liberal Arts curriculum). This, when he had already had tasted retail and loved it. He joined the Navy and chose Nuclear Submarines, and months on patrol….under water. He understood that developing personal discipline, as well as being a problem solver would work across the board, and it turned out to be perfect preparation for Venture Capital.
Along the way we co-managed our 10th college reunion. His anticipation, preparation and ownership of results projected he would be a great partner at Oak. Four years later he joined the firm, and had a great 27 year run. His hard work, accountability and outstanding results inspire us all. Jerry was a true friend and model partner.
Ed Glassmeyer

Condolences

So saddened to hear of Jerry’s passing. I remember him as grounded and considerate. He was always kind to me, and had a lovely sense of humor. Condolences to his family and his Oak colleagues for a tremendous loss.
Marge Rosenberg

Condolences

My deepest sympathies go out to Jerry’s Family.
Rita Kennedy Shugart

All,

On behalf of the attorneys and staff at Finn Dixon & Herling, I extend our sincere condolences to the Gallagher family and to all of you at Oak. Jerry was a truly wonderful human being and a joy to know and work with. He cared so deeply about Oak, his partners and colleagues, his companies and management teams and all those with whom he worked. He will be missed by so many.
Mike Herling, Finn Dixon & Herling LLP

Condolences

Jerry was a terrific venture capitalist and an even better human being. He was a friend to me personally and to all of us at North Sky Capital. He was smart, hard-working, thoughtful, kind and generous. He was a prince of a guy! Your classic do-gooder. He lifted people up—entrepreneurs, as well as the poor and the needy. This is a sad day for the venture community and a huge loss to our local community here in Minneapolis.
Scott Barrington, North Sky Capital

Dear Oak Team,

I have had the incredible honor of working with Jerry over the past 5 years at Revolution Foods. Jerry invested in our team and mission because he truly believed that we could build a great company by changing the system in this nation to make healthy food accessible to all kids. I have learned so much from Jerry over these 5 years. He took a personal interest in my development as a first-time CEO and Mom and always went the extra mile to coach me through the wins and challenges at each strategic juncture. Jerry is a role model for building companies and teams the “right” way, taking no short cuts, and using the highest level of integrity to make each decision, no matter how big or small. Jerry has been a true mentor to me and a true company builder for Revolution Foods. It has been one of the greatest honors of my career to work with and learn from him. Kirsten and I, and the Revolution Foods team and Board, will continue to work diligently to build an impactful, systems-changing company that he would be proud of to honor his legacy and incredible contributions. On a personal level, I will miss Jerry so much and count my lucky stars for each minute we worked together.
With the deepest respect and gratitude,
Kristin Richmond, Revolution Foods

Dear Jerry,

I have thoroughly enjoyed every interaction we have shared together the last 15 years. You were one of the most thoughtful people I have ever met. You left an amazing mark.

I have been inspired by your intelligence, kind spirit, leadership, charisma, professional and personal instincts. In business, you have simply been one of the BEST that we have ever seen. I am in complete awe of your career. I will never forget the lessons you taught me around being a balanced thinker. And you always talked about building great companies and the formula for its success. Thank you for your words of wisdom and advice; I carry them with me in every business discussion I have.

More important than business, you are the highest quality man. Everyone you touched had the great pleasure of knowing you and had the utmost respect for you. You have a wonderful family. I am so happy to have met some of your family members. Ellen is very special; you always talked so fondly of her. She is a wonderful woman, the matriarch of your beautiful family. I know everyone will miss you dearly.

Words can’t describe how sad I am that you have left us. I am thinking about you, and I know you are looking down on all of us.

Rest in peace.
Ren Riley

Jerry,

I will miss your sage advice, your kind words of support, your insightful perspective on the retail space and the global economic environment, your moral compass and always upbeat countenance. You have so much to be proud of, your incredible and impressive children , your amazing legacy of brand name investments, your foundation and unwavering commitment to your values. I will miss you terribly and know that you will sail through those pearly gates.
Ann Lamont

I will greatly miss Jerry.

He had such a meaningful impact on our partnership, his CEOs and management teams, and me personally. He was tirelessly dedicated to building great businesses and he did it with the highest level of integrity, a strong work ethic, genuine caring for all of us, and a great sense of humor. The results from his professional career were undeniable as he helped build and grow a long list of leading retail and restaurant companies. Incisive, methodical, strategic – Jerry took the time to do the work, and he was simply the best at what he did. While a dedicated partner at Oak, all along the way it was always clear what was most important in his life – faith and family. Combined with his successful professional and generous philanthropic endeavors, Jerry made a lasting impact on everyone who knew him. Jerry is someone who I immensely respect and will never forget.
Andrew Adams

Dear Jerry,

Thank you for being our unflappable beacon. Thank you for modeling steadfast conviction to the highest of values. Thank you for assuming fairness and dignity in all negotiations. Thank you for always listening, reflecting, and digesting to assure thoughtful guidance. Thank you for never shying from challenge. Thank you for letting your actions, not just your words, assure your family, your Partners, your companies, your staff, and your industry colleagues that you were unmistakably committed to a solution– even those arduous and protracted ones. Thank you for not reacting, but rather responding. Thank you for always keeping our center. Thank you for coupling vision with methodical analysis. Thank you for living your convictions. Thank you for asking the hard questions. Thank you for wanting us all to be better and do more.

You leave a tremendous void on this earth; I hope we honor your legacy in a way that reciprocates our tremendous pride in and gratitude for you.

Rest in Peace, our dear friend,
Grace Ames

All,

Please accept deepest condolences from all at Abbott. Jerry will be deeply missed. He was an icon of grace and class in a time where these attributes have largely vanished. He will leave an indelible memory.

On behalf of Abbott Capital Management,
Thad Gray