Gerald Wertlieb, MD

Dr. Gerald S. Wertlieb, 82, of Smithtown, New York, passed away peacefully in his sleep on Sunday, November 20th, 2022. Jerry was born on May 22, 1940 to Aaron and Esther Wertlieb in Brooklyn, NY.

After graduating from Baldwin High School, he went on to undergraduate study at Tufts University. After graduation, Jerry went to medical school at Downstate Medical Center and completed his surgical residency at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.

He was a captain in the U.S. Army, and was stationed in Fort Wadsworth in Staten Island, NY. Jerry eventually became an orthopedic surgeon specializing in hand surgery and went on to have a thriving practice on Long Island.

He met and married Marjorie Yaspan and they had two children, Mitchell and Lauren. Following a divorce, Jerry met and married Margaret Flynn in 2003, and they remained married until his passing.

In 1979 Jerry garnered national media attention as part of a team of surgeons who reattached the leg of a young girl after it was severed in a train accident. It was the first time a leg severed above the knee had been successfully reattached in a surgical procedure.

Jerry played high school football and was an avid fan of the NY Giants, suffering through their worst years before being rewarded by getting to see the team win multiple Super Bowls. Jerry was gregarious and charismatic, with an infectious sense of humor. He loved being around other people, and had a large network of friends with whom he often traveled to various places, including Israel in 2022, fulfilling his life-long dream to visit the Jewish homeland.

Jerry loved golf, his family, and terrible puns. He was a passionate man who brought joy to so many, and will be sorely missed. He is survived by his loving wife Margaret; her daughter Patricia, husband Steve, and their 3 children (Nicholas, Connor, and Madison); Eileen, her husband Scott, and their children Erin and Grace. Jerry is also survived by his sister Susan Miller, her husband Robert Miller and their children Emily and Jonathan. Lastly, Jerry is survived by his children Mitchell and his wife Erin, and their daughter Gretchen; and Jerry's daughter Lauren, and her children Kyla and Linus Greve. Everyone remembers him with love.

Funeral services will be held on Monday, November 28th at 10am at Shalom Memorial Funeral Home at 760 Smithtown Bypass in Smithtown, NY.