Jerry Seidenwurm

Jerry Seidenwurm



Jerry

Seidenwurm (5/13/45-10/12/23) loved life--almost all of it and almost all the time.

His favorite line to his wife, Rhonda, was from a song by Tim O'Rourke: "Be sure you have your arms around the one who makes you smile."

Jerry was born and grew up in Rockville Centre on Long Island, New York, the son of Jesse and Lillian Seidenwurm and the younger sibling of his brother, Rick, who allowed him to tag along on boyhood adventures. It was an all American childhood of playing baseball with neighborhood chums until it was too dark to see and spending summers in camp in the Adirondack mountains. Jerry's biggest childhood disappointment was that his father refused to move the family to San Francisco when the Giants moved there in 1958, crushing his dream of being a Giants' bat boy.

During the middle of his college career at Williams College, he left for a year to join VISTA, the domestic Peace Corps in the War on Poverty. There he met his first wife, Jackie. Jackie and Jerry's first daughter, Jennifer, was born while they were at Williams. After Jerry's graduation, they moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, where Jerry was employed as a teacher at Albuquerque Academy. They adopted their second daughter, Julie, a year after settling there, and their only son, Brock, a couple of years later. In 1970 Jerry joined the Albuquerque Public Schools as a program evaluator and remained in the district until his retirement in 2000. Some of Jerry's best memories of early life in Albuquerque included coaching his kids in their various sports interests. Julie and Jennifer are still fans of multiple teams, and Brock was an avid Dallas Cowboys fan until his death in 2019.

Life became a new adventure after Jerry met a red-headed school

superintendent from the deep South whom he married in 1994. Rhonda moved to Albuquerque to work with APS as a Region Superintendent. Upon his retirement, Jerry agreed to follow her wherever her career took her, exacting a promise that they would return to his beloved Albuquerque when retirement was a reality for them both.

Meanwhile, daughter Jennifer decided it was time for a new generation of Seidenwurms, and Jerry went with her to China to meet and bring home his only grandchild, Jaelyn. Jaelyn adopted grandpa's love of baseball, and they spent hours together perfecting her skills and knowledge of the game. He adored his granddaughter, and the feeling was returned in abundance.

Jerry was one of the many men who claimed their mothers had thrown away a childhood sports card collection worth a fortune, and he spent much of his retirement rebuilding his. Jerry spent countless happy hours accumulating and sorting his collection.

Jerry and Rhonda travelled extensively, visiting dozens of countries and all seven continents along the way. When asked about his favorite trips, he was sure to mention their second camera safari to the Serengeti that included their daughters and granddaughter.

Their dogs were always a huge part of their lives, and the first step of planning any trip was to be sure the dog sitters were available. Dawn, VeeBee, Zarka, Easy, and Moxie brightened Jerry's life as his and Rhonda's beloved, four-legged companions.

On the night that a blood clot to his lungs ended his life, he made margaritas and tacos for Rhonda and his two daughters. He also sang a favorite refrain that he believed defined his life: "Oh, what a lucky man he was."