Jerry Liemandt, conservation officer, pilot

The former DNR official was an early advocate of blaze orange for hunters, and monitored pollution in Lake Minnetonka.

By Ben Cohen, Star Tribune

Last update: November 14, 2006 - 9:13 PM

Jerome (Jerry) Liemandt, a former chief conservation officer of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, died of Alzheimer's disease Sunday in Brainerd, Minn.

Liemandt, who served as the state's top game warden from 1973 to 1976, was 85.

"He was one of those people you'd like to follow," said Jerry Engelbrecht of Brainerd, a retired DNR chief pilot.

While serving at Lake Minne-tonka in the 1950s, Liemandt may have spent more time on the water than anyone, said his son Paul of Minneapolis, a former DNR aquatic biologist.

When he wasn't seeking game and fish law violators, "he documented much of the septic water from the surrounding communities' discharge," said his son. Liemandt also worked with many community groups, and urged the building of city sewer systems to ensure Lake Minnetonka's water quality.

Around 1960, the pilot and former World War II Army Air Forces airman was instrumental in bringing blaze orange garments into widespread use.

From 1959 to 1961, Liemandt directed the Youth Firearms Safety Training Program. Early in his career, he served in Thief River Falls, and later, as a manager, he led officers in a region based in Brainerd.

After retirement in 1976, he rebuilt single-engine airplanes.

In addition to his son Paul, he is survived by his wife of 65 years, Monica; sons Mike, of Colorado Springs, Colo., Tom of Ft. Ripley, Minn., Bill of Denver, and Joe of St. Croix Falls, Wis.; daughters Patty Becker of Anoka, Peggy Mangiaracina of Spokane, Wash., Sue Freeman of Springfield, Ill., and Ann Kleindl of Brainerd; sisters, Dellrose Meehl of New Hope, Florence Sultze Greeninger of St. Michael, Minn., and Bernadette Henrickson of Florida; 21 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

Ben Cohen • bcohen@startribune.com