Jerome Abraham Gliksman passed peacefully into eternal life on Saturday October 3, 2020, in Rolling Hills Estates with his loving family by his side.
Jerry was born April 30, 1940, in Middletown, Pennsylvania to Josef and Julia Gliksman, Polish immigrants who escaped Poland in 1938 arriving in New York on the Queen Mary. The family, including Jerry’s sister Jeanette, moved to the Bronx in New York when Jerry was young, and when Jerry was fifteen, the family moved to Los Angeles. Jerry attended Hollywood High and went on to UCLA earning a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in structural engineering. It was at UCLA where he met the love of his life, Kathleen Lenihan, in the bridge room. This was also the beginning of his life-long love for anything UCLA.
Bruin basketball and Bruin football were staples in the Gliksman household. Mentioning USC beating UCLA in any year would earn some trash talking, as his grandsons, Rob, and Andrew, so loved to do with him in later years.
In 1962, Jerry and Kathy ventured to Vegas and eloped much to the disapproval of their parents. But 58 years of marriage pretty much erased any doubts how much they love each other. Their five children and thirteen grandchildren are living proof!
Jerrys chosen career path all started because, as the story goes, the engineering major didn’t require a foreign language. How lucky for the aerospace industry because he truly found his calling as an engineer and later as program manager for numerous satellite programs. He started at Northrop Grumman on the F5 program, then went to work for STL, which was eventually bought by TRW. When he joined the Space Park team in 1965, he spent the first ten years as lead structural engineer for several satellite programs, and as his career progressed, he was Program Manager for numerous satellite programs such as ROCSAT, TDRSS, DSP, and GRO. We imagine there are others that cannot be named due to national security.
He loved being an engineer and was especially proud being Program Manager for DSP and GRO (his baby). He was awarded the NASA Public Service Medal in 1992 for his GRO work; and received numerous accolades over the course of his career. He was well respected and loved by all who worked with him and for him.
He gave so much of his time to his kids in all aspects of their lives. Softball and baseball were a constant and at one point or another, he coached all five of his children. From 1978 to 1984, he was one of the girls’ softball varsity coaches at Rolling Hills High School. He also co-founded the PVP Girls Softball League on the Peninsula and was the president for many years. He was known as "Jer" which was a sign of absolute respect. He played tennis his entire life until a shoulder injury permanently sidelined him from the sport he truly loved. He would have loved to play professionally but he chose engineering over tennis when his counselor told him he couldn’t do both. On most weekends, he played tournaments at South End.
He loved to garden, so after his weekend tennis matches, he would come home and work in the yard!
He loved the Dodgers! For many years, he had season tickets to the Dodgers and loved taking his kids and his grandkids to the games. Such fond memories and great times we shared with him!
With all his spare time (HA!), he was civic minded too! He sat on the Traffic Commission for the City of Rolling Hills Estates, was president of the Dapplegray Lanes Property Owners Association for many years and led the DLPOA Architectural Committee.
He tutored not only his children but other kids as well. "Define your variables" was his motto. And oh did he love to dance! He so enjoyed the "happy feet" gatherings, and he sure had some moves.
With all his accomplishments, his family was most important to him. He was devoted to his family, and his unconditional love for his wife, kids and grandkids was extraordinary.
Jerry was truly a great man. He was decent, kind, and honest. He had character, integrity, and honor. He had an unmatched work ethic, uncompromising loyalty to family, had a wickedly wonderful corny sense of humor, and he was brilliant. He fiercely fought the disease that robbed him of his life way too young. And through it all, he never complained - he just accepted the challenges and tried to find a way to overcome them. And as the challenges kept coming, he kept fighting until his body just couldn’t anymore.
He is our hero and our guiding light. He exemplified a life well-lived. He showed us how to take care of each other in sickness and in health, how to laugh (even in the darkest hours), and how to love each other. Life will never be as bright without him with us. He will forever be loved and greatly missed!
He is preceded in death by his parents Josef and Julia; his sister Jan; and his granddaughters Elizabeth Wieland and Julia Wieland. He is survived by his loving wife Kathy, his children: Melissa (Ron) Wieland, Kristi Turchi, Joe (Clarissa) Gliksman, Mary Gliksman, and Pattie (Dan) Frandson; his grandchildren: Rob, Andrew and Ashley Wieland, Megan, Jamie, Kelsey and Mia Turchi, Robert and Samantha Gliksman, Kristina, and Daniel Frandson; his nephew Kris (Erin) Hermes.