NORTHBOROUGH

Jerome Leon “Jerry” Cox passed peacefully on September 30, 2024, surrounded by loved ones, after several years of a chronic lung illness and a brief final bout with pneumonia.

The eldest son of Willard and Margaret Cox of Streator, IL, Jerry was known to most as a quiet and charming man but had a surprisingly mischievous early childhood digging backyard booby traps and publishing the neighborhood gossip newsletter, alongside other misadventures with his siblings Joanne, Carlene, Connie, David, Dwayne, and Diane.

Jerry met the love of his life on a ski trip when Elaine slid by him, unable to stop. As an engineer (electrical engineering at Penn State), he made a distinctive impression by unhelpfully shouting, “put your skis parallel to the fall line!” Rather than give him her phone number, Elaine told him to look her up in the phone book. Fortunately for all concerned, Jerry’s persistence paid off. Jerry and Elaine’s marriage of nearly fifty-five years was marked by deep love and respect, of a kind that is rare and special.

Jerry’s boundless love for Elaine was visible to all who knew him. Together, they survived adventures from fleeing a tornado in a car while transporting a tree sticking out the window, relocating away from family in the Midwest to Massachusetts, surviving multiple car breakdowns on an annual twenty-four-hour drive to visit family in St Louis, and the complete flooding of their basement with 11,000 gallons of water. Along the way, Jerry — always a hard worker — went from the leadership training track at GE to managing flagship computing products for Digital Equipment Corporation, where his nickname was “El Gato” for his ability to survive multiple rounds of layoffs and acquisitions and from where he retired after a career that spanned four decades.

Jerry was a devoted father of three boys, Michael (Sterling, MA), Brian (San Rafael, CA) and David (Somerville, MA). He loved to brag to anyone who would listen about their many accomplishments, much to their embarrassment. He was most proud of how his sons cherish their mother Elaine; of their strong marriages to his daughter-in-laws Pam, Karen, and Jarasa; and of the loving and supportive fathers they have been in raising his six grandkids Thomas and Sarah, Sadie and Ethan, and Sirisa and Kirana. In his later years, Jerry’s favorite activity was watching his grandchildren excel, both in school, especially in the sciences, as well as in their extracurriculars, from music to soccer to theater to student government. Much of Jerry’s legacy can be seen in how his grandchildren carry forward Jerry’s intelligence, his critical thinking, his curiosity about the world, and his kind heart.

Following Jerry’s wishes, all services will be private. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be sent to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (jdrf.org).

Arrangements are under the care of Hays Funeral Home, 56 Main St, Northborough, MA 01532. Condolences and memories can be shared with Jerry’s family at www.HaysFuneralHome.com.