Gerald Herman Schmit, familiarly known as Gerry, is a retired Geophysical Consultant with a passion for emergency management and community service. Born in 1957 in Montreal, Canada, Gerry has lived a diverse life, having moved around a lot with his career. Along the way, Gerry and his wife, Laurie, have built a loving family together and have two grown sons, Andrew (34), who is married and has a young daughter, and Michael (32), who are their pride and joy.

Gerry's educational background is in Geophysics, which he studied at the University of Western Ontario from 1976 to 1980. His professional career spanned 35 years with Chevron, where he worked his way up to senior positions, earning awards for innovations and achievements. Gerry is particularly proud of his last assignment, which significantly improved drilling and production performance in an offshore oil field.

Now retired, Gerry is dedicated to giving back to his community. He joined the Siletz Fire District in 2021, bringing his technical knowledge and administrative skills to the board. He is also involved in the Logsden Valley Firewise Community and has volunteered at Newport Emergency Management.

Gerry's favorite hobbies are genealogy and working outdoors. He enjoys watching NFL football, specifically the Kansas City Chiefs, due to his family's background. His interesting fact is that he lived in a "camp" on Sumatra, Indonesia, for six years with his family.

As a member of the Siletz Fire District, Gerry values interacting with staff and board members, seeing the district's functionality improve, and contributing his skills in Microsoft Office products. His favorite memory is participating in a "burn to learn" training event on his property, involving multiple agencies.

If Gerry could give career advice, it would be to continuously learn to be prepared for opportunities that arise. He believes that his career with Chevron was "mission accomplished" and now focuses on helping the fire district evolve to serve the community better.