Gerald "Jerry" Bruno Gerardi

Jerry was born in Hackensack, NJ on January 16, 1947 to the late Bruno and Elizabeth Leoncini Gerardi. The family moved to the Ft. Lauderdale area in the late 1950’s where Jerry grew up to love fishing the piers, bridges and beaches of south Florida.

He graduated from Pompano Beach HS and Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. He retired from IBM in Boca in 1997 at which time he went from a technical writer to begin a long career as a fishing and outdoor writer. He wrote for the Palm Beach Post, Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel and the Boca Raton News. When retiring to Tallahassee in 2005, he began writing the outdoor column for the Democrat. He wrote his final column in the hospital on the Wednesday before he passed away.

Jerry married Mary Catherine Behrens in Tallahassee in 1970 and they lived in Boynton Beach until 2005. When it was time for Mary’s retirement, he agreed to move north as long as he could fish. He enjoyed fresh water fishing and making the trip to Panama City to fish the piers.

Jerry is survived by his wife, Mary and their sons, Joshua (Tonya) and Joe, both of Tallahassee. He is also survived by his sister, Jeanne Gerardi Crutcher (Terry) of Blairsville, GA; niece, Kristin Sterling Henry (Doug) of Minneapolis; grand-nephew, Max Sterling of Minneapolis; his two loving aunts, Jeanne Leoncini DiPietro of Dunnellon, FL and Bette Leoncici Sparrow of Pompano Beach, FL; and his brother, Tom Beach (Terie McComb) of Blairsville, GA.

Jerry was blessed with a wealth of friends. He enjoyed sharing his adopted Seminoles and opened his home to them during football season.

The family would like to thank the many doctors and health care providers who cared for Jerry over the months at TMH, Select Specialty and Encompass Rehabilitation. He commented just this week how kind everyone was to him. He too was a kind and gentle soul.

A Gathering of Family & Friends will be held on Friday, October 18 at 4:00 PM at Culley’s MeadowWood Funeral Home, 1737 Riggins Road, Tallahassee, FL. A Memorial Service will follow at 5:00 PM.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the American Diabetes Association, Kidz1stFund or the Saint Thomas More Co-Cathedral.