Jerry Parks Nielsen

Jerry Parks Nielsen passed unexpectedly of Covid complications, at the age of 69 while visiting New Mexico. He was there on a great and wonderful adventure with his wife of 25 years, Vicki Nielsen. He is survived by his wife, Vicki, his sister, Pamela Wilson, and many dear friends, most of whom considered him more brother than friend. In the hospital, Vicki and Pam were by his side, holding his hands and comforting him as he bravely passed away. Jerry and Vicki had been traveling all summer in their RV and they enjoyed a magical sunset together at the Grand Canyon just days before.

Jerry lived a very full life, beginning in Washington, D.C. on Monday, February 2, 1953. He grew up and lived in the DC area until he moved to Maryland to explore the Chesapeake Bay in 2007. He loved boating on the rivers and around the small towns in the Bay where he could often be found visiting tiki bars and enjoying Maryland crabs, Mai-Tais and rum runners. He also loved to entertain on the rooftop of his Washington, D.C. home and was renowned for his dessert parties. Jer loved sweets!

Jerry lived his life to the fullest and had an infectiously positive attitude. He was a charismatic, fun-loving, kind, and generous soul with a smile that would melt your heart. Jerry was quick with a joke and was always great fun to be around. He loved to make people laugh, especially Vicki and Pam, and he had a way of making everyone feel special.

Because Jerry's parents passed while he was in his early twenties, he altered the path of his life tremendously. In order to run the family business with his sister Pam he gave up his dream of attending the University of Arizona and declined an invitation to try out for the US Olympic diving team. While operating National Capital Air Filter Company, Jerry earned an associates degree from Montgomery College. In 1997 Jerry and his sister sold their business after more than 23 years in operation. Because he always had an interest in real estate and was drawn to live in extraordinary properties, he began a second career in real estate investing, development, leasing, and property management with his brother-in-law.

Jerry was an accomplished life-long athlete. He set records in high school, college and beyond in multiple sports. In high school he was an exceptional diver, gymnast, rifleman, archer and bowler and won trophies in college for diving and golf. In his twenties and thirties, hang gliding became his passion. Quoting a 1989 article in the Washington Post: "In the hang-gliding pecking order, you can't get any higher than Jerry Nielsen's Hang-Five rating, which certifies him as a master at jumping off mountains and soaring around on gossamer wings of man. Nielsen has soared more than 600 unpowered hours in 13 years. He's done tandem, done tow, had cross-country runs of 50-plus miles." Jerry had many epic, record-setting flights, including flying at night under a full moon. His talent and love for hang gliding took him all over the country. He competed in the Regionals in Pennsylvania and the US Nationals in Nevada. Some of his favorite flights included: the 10,000 foot volcano Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii; the Half Dome in Yosemite; Torrey Pines, the E at Lake Elsinore, Hidden Valley and Crestline in California; Sandia Peak in New Mexico; High Rock in Cascade, Maryland; High Top, Massanutten and Blue Ridge launches in Virginia; Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Kitty Hawk and Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina, to name a few. Jerry loved to catch a thermal, circling and soaring with hawks and eagles. It was pure freedom. He served as the President of the Capital Hang Gliding Association, and with his board produced an award-winning magazine recognized by the US Hang Gliding Association at the time as the best club magazine in the country. Jerry also took up windsurfing during that chapter of his life, and windsurfed at epic locales such as Hood River, Bonaire and the Dominican Republic.

Jerry loved to glide, soar, float, or roll. And he did so on rollerblades, mountain bikes, dirt bikes, motorcycles, and more. In fact, when he was 41, Jerry met Vicki on a skate event with WAR (Washington Area Rollerbladers) that started at Freedom Plaza in Washington D.C. At that time he was one of a handful of skaters that rollerbladed 100 miles in a day on the streets and bike trails in the DC/Maryland/Virginia area. Jerry loved to fly down the streets of DC and backwards down concrete stairs on skates without brakes, and more than once Jerry would catch a free ride up the Beach Drive hill in Rock Creek Park by grabbing onto the back bumper of a Park Police car. For years Jerry mountain-biked with his buds every Saturday. He was a great technical rider and demanded much of himself. For Jer, it was a fault if his foot came out of the clip, even if it didn't touch the ground. Jerry also loved to barrel down the slopes on his snowboard, but his favorite thing was floating through fresh powder between the trees. For years, Jerry went on ski and snowboard trips to Colorado, Utah, California, Whistler BC, Mount Sutton (east of Montreal, Canada), and Switzerland, with many great friends. And of course, he liked skydiving. Some of his greatest aerial memories included flying a fighter jet (the Aero Vodochody L-39) and a helicopter. Both were experiences he enjoyed with lifelong friends.

At 45, Jerry purchased his first dirt bike and learned to ride. Before long Jerry was racing hare scrambles and riding dual sports and enduros. Some of his proudest moments included: winning the Maryland State Championship for hare scrambles at the famed Budds Creek motocross venue; a 2005 first place GNCC win at Wisp Mountain in Deep Creek, MD; taking 2nd overall for the District 2 Class C hare scramble series in 2006; and the two times in 2013 when he and Vicki both trophied at hare scramble races. Jer loved the local rides the most, racing his buds through the woods, dodging trees and climbing up and down rocky, rooty, slippery trails. Jerry also loved his dirtbike exploits out west to Colorado and Idaho over the years. The riding was breathtaking and the brotherhood genuine. Jerry rode until he was 66, still leading the pack even while lugging around an oxygen concentrator in his backpack.

Jerry was an enthusiastic music lover, going to shows by The Doors, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, the Eagles, Paul McCartney and Wings, Lynnard Skynnard, ZZ Top, Richard Eliot, and many more of the music greats. It was even rumored that he attended Woodstock, and once saw Rod Stewart in a church basement, before Rod hit it big with "Maggie Mae." He was also an excellent drummer himself.

Jerry loved animals, and his dogs Taffy and Pebbles lived 23 and 18 years, respectively. His first dog, Charlie Brown, adopted him as did his first cat. It was inexplicable but somehow Taffy could pick Jerry and his hang glider out of the sky and would be at his feet to greet him in the landing field.

In 2019 when Jerry was 66, he, Vicki, and Foxy moved into a small RV for eighteen months. They explored the great outdoors together during the Covid closures. They mountain biked more than 1,500 beautiful miles and played countless golf courses in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah and Florida.

At age 69, the last year of Jerry's life, his passions were still exploring with Vicki and Foxy, golfing and his latest addiction: pickleball. Jerry loved to get a laugh from the other pickleball players. Jerry was active until the end, playing pickleball in Las Vegas just one week before his hospitalization. He also birdied the final golf hole he played, to cheers from Vicki and the young guys that he outplayed that day in North Salt Lake City.

This year Jerry and Vicki celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary all summer on their final epic RV adventure together. Over the years, Vic and Jer rollerbladed, snowboarded, dirt-biked, mountain-biked, road-biked, motorcycled, boated, hiked, golfed, pickleballed and adventured their way through life. They just loved being together. They were lucky to have found each other and are still very much in love.

Jerry was filled with light and love that radiated to every corner of his life. Jerry lived for the day, he lived in the moment. He was a true light.

This obituary was intended to spark a memory of Jerry for every person who knew him. This was about Jerry and his spirit as it soars on.

"Every man dies, not every man really lives. " -- William Wallace.

Jerry really lived.

Services: Vicki is planning a Memorial Service in the mid-Atlantic/Washington DC area in mid-late-June 2023. In lieu of flowers, please consider donating  to: Second Chance Wildlife Center http://www.scwc.org/ or Greater Good Charities, https://greatergood.org/ on Jerry's behalf.