Jedemi Honors Jerry...

We put together a tribute to Annie’s dad who passed away in the wee hours of the morning — Monday, March 6.

That’s from “The Little Prince” in its native language.

…In one of the stars I shall be living. In one of them I shall be laughing. And so it will be as if all the stars were laughing, when you look at the sky at night . . . You–only you–will have stars that can laugh!

“And when your sorrow is comforted (time soothes all sorrows) you will be content that you have known me. You will always be my friend. You will want to laugh with me. And you will sometimes open your window, so, for that pleasure . . . And your friends will be properly astonished to see you laughing as you look up at the sky! Then you will say to them, ‘Yes, the stars always make me laugh!’ And they will think you are crazy. It will be a very shabby trick that I shall have played on you…”

“It will be as if, in place of the stars, I had given you a great number of little bells that knew how to laugh…”

About that Mosaic…

Here’s a breakdown:

(A) Jerry Gladue talks about driving the Jeep after the World War II (European Theater of Operations) and how cold it was.
(B) He always had this little “Think” notebook. Perhaps an gift from IBM. He was a pioneer in installing / implementing sophisticated computers into on-site data centers.
(C) This was a phrase from a management tape he was listening to during the drive to the Jersey Shore from Madison, New Jersey (3 hours). Annie listened along and this phrase stuck.
(D) Mr. Craftsman tools was always working on a project … building something. This 6-Flat Read Wood Folding Ruler is a vivid memory.
(E) Annie’s dad suspected she was a “Southie” (lefty) when she was first learning to throw a ball. It wasn’t until later in her adult life that was confirmed. Jerry was a southie.
(F) Annie had a deal with Adidas in high school — indirectly. Jerry would drive her to the Adidas HQ in Jersey and shoes were given to him to give to her. He also drove her to race courses (like Van Cortlandt Park in New York), so she could get a preview / practice before championship meets.
(G) Jerry was an avid Big Band aficionado. He’s pretty much the reason The Enchanted Jukebox exists here at Jedemi. This is a picture of him in Vermont Music Festival in 1939.
(H) This is Annie’s mom and dad in Monterey. This was the year after the earthquake (they had to postpone their trip).
(I) This is Annie’s Alfa Spider with wood steering wheel. Similar to the one she remembers driving in with her dad when she was young (4-years old) in Framingham.
(J) And this is the box of ubiquitous donuts. Jerry had one every day as part of his nutritious breakfast.

Bonus: This is her dad posing with the shoe of roses she won in her first 10K race. He also got permission for the high school cross country team to train on his company’s hilly campus. For sure, lots of good memories.

This is our version of a second line for Jerry…

Thanks so much for reading our tribute to Jerry. We’ve included some bonus content below. Also, our game plan is to get info on how and where to send donations to the hospice group that took care of Jerry. Stay tuned!