Obituary for Gerald Hertweck
Gerald Hertweck, 86, of South Yarmouth, passed away on September 5, 2021 at home. Born in Evansville, IN, he was the son of the late Esther (Moutschoka) and Richard Hertweck. A Navy veteran, he received the Commendation Ribbon with Metal Pendant for service in Korea while assigned to the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission.
He earned a BA (Mathematics) from Southern Illinois University, completed graduate work at Johns Hopkins and Northeastern Universities, and received his PhD (Industrial Engineering/Operations Research) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Jerry started his civilian career at the U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, VA, where he was a member of Special Study Groups for evaluation of an anti-submarine warfare concept and a Joint Chiefs of Staff naval weapons system analysis. He then was assigned as a researcher to the Institute of Naval Studies Center for Naval Analysis at Cambridge, MA. He permanently moved to Massachusetts and was employed as a Fellow Scientist at Westinghouse Advanced Studies Group in Waltham. At that time he was also a lecturer and part-time instructor at Boston University School of Management, teaching courses in probability and statistics and linear programming.
Twenty-seven years of service with the U.S. Army Natick RD&E Center (now Soldier Systems Center) began in the Operations Research Division, where he was the project manager for the development of a new Army combat field feeding system. He then was the Special Assistant to the DoD Food Program where he was a research administrator, including a three month assignment at the Pentagon as Department of the Army Staff Coordinator (Food) in 1982. Jerry finished his career at Natick as Chief, Food Equipment and Systems Division, where he was the engineering manager responsible for design, development, and engineering of food service equipment and systems.
Jerry is survived by his wife, Nancy Kelley; their children Valerie (Hertweck) Robison and her husband Tom of Barrie, Canada; Cyndy (Hertweck) Nahass and her husband Bobby of Duluth, GA; Mark and his wife Beth of Owenton, KY; and Heather Kelley and her husband Steve Lanser of Hopkinton, MA. He also leaves behind his grandchildren: Caitlyn Robison, Austen and Jordyn Nahass, Sarah and Leah Wilhoite and Allie Hertweck, and Abbey and Mia Kelley-Lanser, as well as his great-granddaughter Carman Meadows. He is also survived by his twin sister Gerri Ann (Hertweck) Garnett of Evansville, IN, as well as his nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
He enjoyed international travel and treasured each autumn he spent in the Alsace region of France. He had fond memories of many whale watching trips where he volunteered as a data collector to identify and track individual whales to promote their protection and conservation. An expert chef and grill-master, he enjoyed entertaining family and friends at his home as well as quiet morning coffee on the beach at Cape Cod.
He was interred with military honors at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. Donations in his memory may be made to the Jimmy Fund.
Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.
He earned a BA (Mathematics) from Southern Illinois University, completed graduate work at Johns Hopkins and Northeastern Universities, and received his PhD (Industrial Engineering/Operations Research) from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Jerry started his civilian career at the U.S. Naval Weapons Laboratory in Dahlgren, VA, where he was a member of Special Study Groups for evaluation of an anti-submarine warfare concept and a Joint Chiefs of Staff naval weapons system analysis. He then was assigned as a researcher to the Institute of Naval Studies Center for Naval Analysis at Cambridge, MA. He permanently moved to Massachusetts and was employed as a Fellow Scientist at Westinghouse Advanced Studies Group in Waltham. At that time he was also a lecturer and part-time instructor at Boston University School of Management, teaching courses in probability and statistics and linear programming.
Twenty-seven years of service with the U.S. Army Natick RD&E Center (now Soldier Systems Center) began in the Operations Research Division, where he was the project manager for the development of a new Army combat field feeding system. He then was the Special Assistant to the DoD Food Program where he was a research administrator, including a three month assignment at the Pentagon as Department of the Army Staff Coordinator (Food) in 1982. Jerry finished his career at Natick as Chief, Food Equipment and Systems Division, where he was the engineering manager responsible for design, development, and engineering of food service equipment and systems.
Jerry is survived by his wife, Nancy Kelley; their children Valerie (Hertweck) Robison and her husband Tom of Barrie, Canada; Cyndy (Hertweck) Nahass and her husband Bobby of Duluth, GA; Mark and his wife Beth of Owenton, KY; and Heather Kelley and her husband Steve Lanser of Hopkinton, MA. He also leaves behind his grandchildren: Caitlyn Robison, Austen and Jordyn Nahass, Sarah and Leah Wilhoite and Allie Hertweck, and Abbey and Mia Kelley-Lanser, as well as his great-granddaughter Carman Meadows. He is also survived by his twin sister Gerri Ann (Hertweck) Garnett of Evansville, IN, as well as his nieces and nephews and grand-nieces and grand-nephews.
He enjoyed international travel and treasured each autumn he spent in the Alsace region of France. He had fond memories of many whale watching trips where he volunteered as a data collector to identify and track individual whales to promote their protection and conservation. An expert chef and grill-master, he enjoyed entertaining family and friends at his home as well as quiet morning coffee on the beach at Cape Cod.
He was interred with military honors at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne. Donations in his memory may be made to the Jimmy Fund.
Life is eternal; and love is immortal; and death is only a horizon; and a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight.