"How he's impacted people is enormous," said the proud son of his father.
Richard Gere is grieving the passing of his father, Homer, who died earlier this month at the age of 100. Homer Gere, a long-time community volunteer in North Syracuse, died on Wednesday, March 1 in Downstate New York, reports Syracuse. On March 4, Alejandra Silva, Richard's wife, announced his death as she posted a tribute to Homer's life on Instagram.
Her post celebrated Homer's life, sharing, he "was known in the community as a gifted entrepreneur and was awarded for his work as a volunteer for North Area Meals on Wheels." It further added that Homer was "known for his everyday kindnesses" and was also a "dedicated public school advocate."
Homer recently celebrated his 100th birthday, an event that Richard held at a local eatery called Pastabilities. The restaurant posted about their visit on their Instagram page after they left. “Richard Gere came into Pasta’s tonight to celebrate his father's 100th birthday,” the post said.
Richard frequently shared how his father inspired him to be a better person. During his acceptance speech after receiving an honor at City Harvest Festival Gala in 2019, Richard credited his father for the morals he has developed, per PageSix. “My father, in about 10 days, is going to be 97 years old and his mind is better than mine,” the actor said, adding, “He’s one of those people that his entire life, whenever someone else was suffering he was there to some degree.”
He added, “If he didn’t have money, it was a smile or an embrace or whatever he had to help out, and that was around me the whole time I was growing up.”
Together, the father-and-son duo created a nationwide advertising campaign for Meals on Wheels, a cause Homer held close to his heart. Richard mentioned in the advertisement that his father worked diligently for the cause and found a run-down house from which it could operate. To this, Homer responded, "When you can see someone benefitting from your life in some way, you can't help but feel good about it." Richard continued that the reason he was still a part of the organization was because of his father. "How he's impacted people is enormous," said the proud son.
To the actor, his father has "always been my hero. When neighbors needed them, he was there." Both his parents, he shared, played an important role in how his life turned out, per Independent. "My parents are extraordinary people," he shared. "They gave me and my four brothers and sisters enormous opportunities in terms of education, in terms of music, in terms of anything we had an inclination towards somehow they found a way for that to happen. They found the teachers. We weren't brought up with a lot of money, and the scraping that it took to have an education, to have music teachers, was an extraordinary thing," he added.
References:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CpYW9A7vKTV/
https://pagesix.com/2019/05/01/richard-geres-dad-taught-him-the-importance-of-giving-back/
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Jemal Countess
