Gerald K. Weiss

Gerald K. Weiss

Gerald K. Weiss, 85, died on September 21, 2025 after a long illness. Jerry and his wife of 62 years, Joann, had moved to a retirement community in Santa Fe, New Mexico after living in Corrales for 52 years.

Jerry was born in Chicago and graduated as an All State football quarterback from Main Township High School in Park Ridge, IL. He graduated from St.Olaf College, and went on to earn a Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of Illinois, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Primate Center at the University of Washington.

Dr. Weiss was a Professor of Physiology at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine for 30 years. He taught cardiovascular physiology and neurophysiology in the undergraduate medical education and biomedical sciences graduate program He was an avid scientist with numerous regional and national collaborators. Early in his career he studied the autonomic regulation baroreceptor reflex, a short-term, involuntary mechanism that the body uses to maintain stable blood pressure. Later his research centered on ithe noradrenergic and neuroendocrine mechanisms involved in limbic epileptogenesis, the process by which a normal brain becomes prone to developing spontaneous seizures. He was an enthusiastic mentor of undergraduate and graduate students as well as junior faculty colleagues.

Jerry loved his family, his home and neighbors in Corrales, jazz music, and making things. In retirement his creative energy went to making sculptural art. He enjoyed taking art classes at UNM, sang in the University Chorus and in two Barbershop Choruses. He volunteered at the Corrales library and was one of the founders of Village in the Village, a nonprofit serving seniors in Corrales.

Hw will be remembered and missed dearly by many who knew and loved him, including his wife Joann, his sons Eric (Leilah Backhus) and Brian (Ann Dowley), his four grandchildren Kai, Rowan, Aidan and Clare, and numerous nieces, nephews, and friends. Among many of his wonderful qualities and gifts, he will be remembered for his friendly enthusiastic manner, ingenuity and his love of life.