Jerome Jay Mautner

1944 - 2024

Jerome Jay "Jerry" Mautner died on March 5, 2024, surrounded by his loving family. An uncompromising man, he fought tenaciously for truth and justice his entire life, and against cancer at its end.

Jerry Mautner was born in November 1944, in Brooklyn, New York, to Dr. Herman E. & Estelle M.Mautner (Freedburg). He attended Emory University in Atlanta where he met and married Elizabeth Ellis. Together they moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where son Michael was born and Jerry graduated from Boston University Law School. After a couple of years back in Brooklyn, and then Mamaroneck, New York, where son David was born, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which employed Jerry as a fraud investigator, moved the family to the San Francisco Bay area. While Jerry worked in the City, the couple lived in Terra Linda, where sons James and Mark were born.

In 1974, Jerry took the California Bar Exam. He was hired by the Solano County D.A. that same year, and he and Elizabeth began looking at houses in the region around Fairfield. They settled on Napa and, in 1975, bought the home where they both lived the for rest of their lives and raised their boys, son John's birth completing their brood a year later.

In 1982, Jerry ran for and was elected District Attorney of Napa County. A political novice, Jerry's election surprised some, but delighted the many who met and canvassed for him in what was a truly grassroots effort.

Jerry's vision of the criminal justice system sometimes frustrated other other local officials, elected and appointed, and led some local media to question his sincerity. Jerry's response to this, most of the time, was to double down and soldier on. His approach remained popular enough that he was reelected without opposition in 1986.

In 1990, a challenger emerged from within his office and Jerry was defeated for reelection. In the six months between the election and the end of Jerry's term, he turned down a couple of potentially lucrative offers to join criminal defense practices. Instead, Jerry went to the Sonoma County D.A. and became once again a mid-level line deputy D.A., absorbing a substantial reduction in pay. Years of frugality on his and Elizabeth's part meant the family hardly noticed.

In 2004, Jerry retired from the Sonoma D.A.'s Office. He and Elizabeth traveled, and enjoyed their grandchildren.

Jerry moved his mother to Napa from Florida in 2006 and assisted her with her affairs until her death in 2018. In that same year, Elizabeth became seriously ill and Jerry became her primary caregiver until her death in 2021. These were roles Jerry had never prepared for, but embraced.

Jerry is survived by his sons, Michael (Adriana), James (Amy), Mark (Jessica), and John (Ami) -- son David died in 1994 -- nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. We will not see his like again. Jerome Jay Mautner