On 2 April 2010, the Washington Post published an obituary for Jerald (Jerry) Franklin terHorst, who died on 31 March 2010 at age 87. He and his family were all members of the Meeting House congregation. He was an Elder in the Presbyterian Church, and had lived in Ashville, North Carolina, near his son for the past several years.

Born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Mr. terHorst served in the U.S. Marine Corps and then worked as a newspaperman. He served as the Washington correspondent and bureau chief for the Detroit News from 1957 to 1981. This job brought the family to live in Alexandria and to the Meeting House, and he became a close friend of the Rev. Dr. William R. Sengel, pastor of the Meeting House during these turbulent times.

Jerald terHorst was a long-time friend of the late President Gerald R. Ford, of whom he wrote a biography.1 In August 1974, President Ford appointed terHorst as the new administration’s White House press secretary, his first appointment as president. After serving for only a month, however, terHorst resigned in protest of President Ford’s unconditional pardon of former President Richard M. Nixon. The Session of the Meeting House issued a statement of support for terHorst. In 1975, the American Society for Journalists and Authors presented him with its first Conscience-In-Media Award, created to honor “those who have demonstrated singular commitment to the highest principles of journalism at notable personal cost or sacrifice.”

Jerry terHorst was active in the life of our congregation. In 1968, following rioting in many of the nation’s inner-city areas, he led discussions on a host of challenging issues in Sunday School and moderated a subsequent retreat by about fifty members of the congregation, which not only tackled these issues in general terms but also sought ways of concretely addressing them here in Alexandria, complete with recommendations to Session. He also led a Sunday-School meeting in 1986 at which long-time members discussed the life of the congregation during the 1950s.

Jerry terHorst, a person of high integrity and an engaged citizen, truly lived his faith in public action.

Donald C. Dahmann and
Hugh M. Van Horn, for the
History & Archives Committee

 1. Gerald Ford and the Future of the Presidency (New York: Third Press, 1974, which appeared in both English and Japanese). He also wrote The Flying White House: The Story of Air Force One (with Ralph Ablertazzie in 1979) and Three Press Secretaries on the Presidency and the Pres: Jody Powell, George Reedy, and Jerry terHorst (with Powell and Reedy in 1983).

 Note: The materials on which this note is based are located in the terHorst file in the Meeting House archive.