Jerry was born June 11, 1939, in Anadarko, Oklahoma, to William and Mary Golden. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was two years old. Six years later, they moved to Glendale, Oregon, then Medford, Oregon. He graduated from Crater High in Central Point in 1957.

He attended Oregon State College in Corvallis, then in 1961, he joined the US Army. He was first stationed in Fort Ord, California, then Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, serving as a Combat Engineer.

He married Diane Kraft, and they settled in Portland. Upon his return from the military in 1963, he attended Lewis & Clark College, then graduated from Portland State College. He became a banker at US National Bank in Portland. He and Diane had three children, John, Heather, and Aaron, and adopted Wendy. After their divorce, he moved to Reseda, California, to be near his sister, Doris.

In 2006, he married Nadra Moore, who had been his next door neighbor in Eighth grade, at Gold Hill Grade School. He and Nadra retired to the Willamette Valley, in Oregon. Jerry passed away on March 14, 2024. He will be interred at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland. Arrangements by Simon Cornwell Funeral Home, Woodburn Oregon.