Jerry Zindler died peacefully on July 30, surrounded by family at his Jamaica Plain home. He succumbed to pancreatic cancer at age 86. Born to Dinah and Elias, Jerry graduated DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx then earned a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1955. His enthusiasm and support for the school would last the rest of his life through friendships and mentorships of budding scientists and engineers.
Jerry then held a series of engineering and management positions with high-tech companies in the Boston area, with an emphasis on biotechnology. He helped develop a number of medical instruments including one of the earliest blood analyzers. Such devices are commonplace in hospitals and labs today.
In 1983, Jerry and industrial designer Gianfranco Zaccai founded the company, Design Continuum. The firm was novel at the time in providing both engineering and industrial design services to clients seeking to launch new products. In 1994 the company received the Presidential Design Award from President Clinton. Jerry retired from Design Continuum in 1997 and went on to be a member of the Industrial Advisory Board, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. In his retirement, it was one of his greatest pleasures to be actively engaged in mentoring and investing in young people’s start-up technology companies.
Jerry was committed as much to family as to work. Throughout their 54-year marriage, he and his wife Linda (Logowitz) entertained legions of friends and family in their houses in Truro and Brookline, and more recently in Jamaica Plain.
With a twinkle in his eye and an incisive wit, Jerry had a boundless appetite for life, as well as an insatiable desire to learn, debate and question. A loving and lively father and active grandparent, Jerry reveled in family occasions. He could be relied upon for the provocative remark or insightful question that would spark vigorous debate around the dinner table.
Whether zooming around the Outer Cape on his motorcycle (often, just to procure more hearing aid batteries, he would joke), sailing Boston Harbor, rooting for the Red Sox or reading every section of the Sunday New York Times, Jerry was always “all in.” No adventure was too daunting, no intellectual challenge too dull, no friendship too insignificant.
In addition to his wife Linda, Jerry leaves a sister, Rita Asch (Frank Magalhaes), son Ethan Zindler (Kristen Mainzer), daughter Rachel Zindler (Paul Newman), grandchildren Dillyn, Nyla, Crow, and Delia, as well as many cherished cousins, nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be held at Stanetsky Memorial Chapels, 475 Washington St., Canton on Monday, August 2 at 12:00pm.
In lieu of flowers, remembrances may be made to the Oncology Dept. at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, www.bidmc.org or The Brookline Center for Community Mental Health, www.brooklinecenter.org or the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis, www.camera.org
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