Gerald “Jerry” Sundlie Smith of South Dartmouth, Massachusetts, passed away September 19, 2012, following an 8½-year battle with cancer. He was 69.
The life of Jerry Smith was remarkable for its persistence of hope. He was an example to all of what it means to truly live the one life we are granted, to do it quietly and with simplicity. Certainly most of all he set the finest of examples for those who grew up with him: daughter Anne Morton Smith of Fairhaven and son Matthew Sundlie Smith of South Dartmouth. Neither can recall him ever cursing, though their mother would swear a blue streak – and early on taught them how to do it too.
As his beloved wife Sammy had done before him, Jerry never allowed his illness to deter him from pursuing the activities he loved and helping the people around him. When he lost Sammy in 2010 he continued on with dogged determination, driving himself to Dana Farber often multiple times a week; maintaining and sailing his catboat “Puddleduck”; helping friends with their boats and various fix-it projects; making and selling antique reproduction miniature furniture; going skiing; and dashing off to fire calls at Dartmouth Fire District 1. Puttering around the yard at Marshall Marine, smoking his pipe and sharing a lifetime of yachting wisdom, he was a beloved fixture to staff and sailors alike.
He was ever-stalwart through his wife’s illness as well as through his own, sailing with fair winds and weathering the squalls. Born in Biddeford, Maine in 1943, a descendant of yacht captains and builders, Jerry’s own passion for boats began while cruising with his family on the Maine coast in their Friendship-style sloop “Volunteer.” Jerry enjoyed dressing in boat captain’s uniform and helping his father pilot the family’s cruising boat. He delighted in all the rules of signal flag and yachting etiquette and throughout his lifetime always paid them heed.
The family moved to Hingham, Massachusetts in 1951 and cruised from there in “Volunteer” and later in their Hinckley yawl “Tern.” The family purchased Jerry’s iconic Peapod sailing and rowing dinghy in 1952, and until failing health made it impossible, Jerry avoided motorized harbor transport in favor of rowing himself.
As a young man Jerry worked as a professional yacht skipper, and in so doing met the love of his life, Sarah-Anne “Sammy” (Morton) Smith of Westport, whose brother Jimmy was also a skipper. From Hingham Jerry’s family moved to Padanaram in 1961. Jerry and Sammy married in 1964 and settled in the Village to raise their family.
In 1962 Jerry joined the Dartmouth Fire District 1 volunteer fire department. For many years he drove the rescue truck and for the last few decades he was known as the “Voice of District 1” – that calm, steady, knowledgeable man in the radio room. In September of 2012 the fire department presented Jerry with his 50-Year Anniversary plaque – one of his proudest days.
Jerry was a graduate of Hingham High School and Southeastern Massachusetts Technological Institute, now UMASS Dartmouth, where he received his bachelor’s degree in business in 1968. He managed the New Bedford Yacht Club and in 1976 went on to serve as general manager of Concordia Company for two decades. His time at Concordia was the most rewarding of his professional life, allowing him to support his family while engaged in his life’s passion: “messing around in boats.” Whatever it took to get the job done Jerry did it all, with his signature puff on a pipe and nary a sign of dismay aside from an occasional, single raised eyebrow.
In 1973 Jerry and Sammy purchased a Marshall 22’ catboat and christened her “Puddleduck.” Always ready with an open cracker barrel, a bowl of dip and any number of musical instruments, Sammy and Jerry’s cockpit was the site for many a happy gathering. Jerry never lost his appreciation for the finer details of yacht maintenance and Puddleduck may well be the only catboat in the fleet that has always had her brass polished. It was no small feat to keep a spotless boat with two kids and an artist wife on board, but his ways were stealthy and Puddleduck always shone.
In his retirement years Jerry kept a small number of private yacht service clients. He joined his wife Sammy in their business, Happiness Is… Miniatures, handcrafting exquisite antique reproduction furniture to complement her dolls and sundries. Together they travelled to shows throughout Southern New England selling their work to collectors in person and around the world via the Internet.
Jerry was son to Lyman Hibbard Smith and Thelma Sundlie Smith, both deceased. In addition to his children Anne and Matthew, he leaves his brother Charlton Smith and his wife Mary Smith; nephew Ian Smith and his wife Lynn Curit-Smith and their children Hannah and Zachary; and niece Sarah (Smith) Miller and her husband Hans Miller. He also leaves cousin Lyman Smith and his wife Barbara Smith.
Services will be scheduled in October.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to Rogerson Communities, a non-profit providing adult day health services for low-income families facing long-term illness, at One Florence Street, Boston, MA 02131.