Jerry Z. Karpinski

He was born June 20, 1925 in Warsaw, Poland. Early in WWII, Jerry’s father, a Polish Army Officer, was captured and imprisoned by the German Army, where he died. His mother and sister were sent to a concentration camp and, at the age of 14, Jerry was sent to a farm in Germany as a slave laborer.

At the end of the war, Jerry remained in occupied Germany where he attended high school and met his future wife Lydia in one of the many Displaced Person Camps while waiting to emigrate to the United States.

Lydia and Jerry married in the US and he joined the U.S. Air Force. After his honorable discharge from the Air Force, he attended the Milwaukie School of Engineering on the GI bill and graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. He had a long career with both Westinghouse Electric and CBS Television.

Jerry and his wife Lydia retired to New Bern in 1988 after many years of vacationing on the North Carolina coast.

He was predeceased by his wife Lydia. He is survived by a son Peter and his wife Catherine of Prescott, Arizona; his sister Irena Krajewska of Gdansk, Poland; his niece and nephew in Poland and good friends and neighbors in New Bern.

A graveside service will be held Monday, February 2, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. at Greenleaf Memorial Park.

Arrangements are by Cotten Funeral Home. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.cottenfuneralhome.com.