Gerald Chandler Schwertfeger, 71, died at his home in Boston, MA from brain cancer on December 1, 2015 while listening to his favorite music and with his husband holding his hands. Jerry was born July 13, 1944 in Oak Ridge, TN, the son of Anton and Jean Schwertfeger. He graduated from Aiken High School (SC) in 1962.
He attended Haverford College in Haverford, PA, majoring in political science and earned his BA in 1966. He received his MA in 1969 and his Ph.D. in 1977, both in political science, from Brandeis University. His dissertation, “European Political Unification,” dealt with the political basis for the European Economic Community, a topic that resounds today as the EU tries to find common ground for addressing harsh economic realities.
Jerry worked at Widener Library at Harvard University, where he was Head of Stacks and Tracings in Access Services. His duties reached high drama in the 1990’s when some 600 books, were stolen and destroyed by one individual. Ransom notes and threats of violence against librarians drew in the FBI. Jerry spent the equivalence of six months of full-time work on the case, and eventually the perpetrator was identified, tried and convicted. Jerry put into place a training system for Tracings that is still in effect today.
He retired after 25 years of service at Harvard. He pursued an interest in American clocks, along with the pottery and ceramics. His leisure activity also encompassed Asian art, which led him to travel to Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Cambodia.
He met the man who became his husband, Zongxi (Bryan) Li online in 1999. They enjoyed working together in their beautiful home garden. They traveled extensively throughout China and the United States. His favorite city was Xi’an and he met twice with the farmer who discovered the terra cotta warriors while excavating a well. Jerry’s other interest included volcanology, which took them to Hawaii. There they returned many times, going to multiple islands, but especially to Kauai to enjoy the gardens and preserves of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. In the last several decades he has become an aficionado of American and European art tiles. He made lots of friends with collectors in California and also in Germany and the Netherlands.
Despite his tremendous enthusiasm for the arts, his greatest passion was for human rights. A lifelong Democrat and activist, he supported not only LGBT issues but all matters of social justice. For this reason, the family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorials for him go to the ACLU.
Besides his husband, Bryan Li, Jerry is survived by his sister, Ann, and her husband, Jeff Lundberg, of Ridgefield, CT; a niece, Christine, her husband Brian Dyer, and a great-niece, Robin Ann, who live in Vina del Mar, Chile; and a nephew, Mark Johnson, his wife Putra, and a great-niece, Aria, of Brooklyn, NY.