I was at a family dinner Saturday night when I read about Gerry’s passing. I actually let out a little yell and several people at the table asked if I was OK.It’s taken me this long to collect my thoughts and get over the shock. Gerry was the best. We were on the same wavelength about a lot of things and I was as close to him as anyone I have worked with in my 37+ year career so far.I first worked with him in 1985 at my first agency job at Frankel on the McDonald’s account. I was assigned to work on new technology and there was Gerry and Dick Helland, tinkering with one of the first computerized design systems that Frankel invested big bucks in. (A cheap laptop could probably do what that thing did back then, but it was fascinating stuff back then). Besides being in awe of Gerry’s creativity (first-ever McDonald’s Monopoly game POP in 1986-87 and so many others), Gerry and I shared a fascination with new technology and techniques. He was really a technology pioneer, doing things decades before they caught on in the mainstream. One of his projects was putting a TV monitor in place of a translite in a McDonald’s menu board to play silent commercials featuring breakfast items at breakfast, lunch items at lunch time. This was in the mid 1980’s, decades before digital signage.After Frankel, I worked with Gerry for almost 12 years at Wunderman where he created the amazing design template that Taco Bell used when they relaunched their entire concept with the first ever value menu. (I knew we had hit on something when word got back to us that Court Keniston at McDonalds held up pictures of the Taco Bell designs at a creative review session with Frankel and said “Why can’t you guys do something like this”).Gerry’s pioneering work never stopped. At Wunderman, he created a virtual reality technique for Taco Bell and Blockbuster where you could see what the different POP designs would look like in a virtual 360 degree store. The client could see what the entire campaign would like and how all the different elements would coordinate. Brilliant stuff! I still remember Gerry getting one of the first Mac’s while at Wunderman. He had this little SE hooked up to this huge 25” B&W CRT monitor and was doing some amazing things with it. This was before Photoshop and Illustrator! Later on, he and I arranged for a group of us to get a discount on our first Mac’s for our own use. (I still have that Mac IIsi). Once when we won a big new account, Gerry yelled out “Quadra’s for everyone!”. He always wanted the latest technology.I knew Gerry was working in a sporting goods store, fulfilling his other hobby. (I still remember the venison jerky he would bring in to the office after one of his hunting expeditions). I knew he was a smoker but, in typical Gerry form, he did not tell too many that he was sick. He just silently worked through it like he always did.I will miss him tremendously…Jim Litwin

A shock that will last quite a while. A man of many talents, combined with pride in what he did, made Gerry a very special man. A friend for forty five years, we shared countless laughs.

Man, oh man. This news of Gerry's passing saddened me in ways that defy description. Hard to summon the words really. Gerry was a terrific mentor, and more, to many of us “creative cuckoos” that came up on the art side through the apprentice program at Abelson-Taylor, then Frankel (me, in 1979-1980 and 1984-1987). He was a singular talent, and I remember him most for those McDonald's Happy Meal boxes he made famous—especially with the first installment of the Star Trek movie franchise. Deftly concepting and directing brilliant illustration and images for packaing, in-store displays and promotional premiums, his work sent sales boldly going where they never had before. I very much looked up to Gerry as I was getting my first taste of the real world after college, and my start in the businesses of advertising, marketing and promotion. Grounded in the traditional, Gerry was also an "early adopter," of new technologies before the term was ever coined. Of systems like the Mac that would transform how creative work would forever more be generated, Gerry saw those before anyone else did. Jumping in with both feet, long before peripheral knowledge of the digital revolution was the minimum price of admission for employment in our industry, he soon became an expert without peer—streets ahead of the competition. I always marveled at and respected the way he pursued and embraced finding new and better ways of doing things.Personally, to his many friends, Gerry was a man of great humor and concrete loyalty. A few summers ago, I happened to catch up with him over beers and dinner at his place in Valparaiso. He was gracious and affable as ever, and he and his family treated me famously.Anyone who knew Gerry well will miss him terribly as he was taken from this planet far too soon. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this most difficult time.~Kevin McGraw

I am very sad to hear about Gerry’s passing. Gerry was a great artist, chess player, storyteller and teacher. He also was very modest about his talents and very eager to learn new things. While at Frankel we did many things outside the office including: fishing, camping and enjoying good music. He came out of the apprentice program, taught others and brought his unique style to everything he touched. His successes gave hope to other apprentices that followed in his path. I think everybody who knew him had to smile when they saw Gerry. He was a great observer of people. His humor was quick, sarcastic, original and memorable. Gerry believed in washing his own car, taking care of his family first, and keeping his beer cold. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him and he was a big part of my Frankel years. I am very sad to hear about Gerry’s passing. Gerry was a great artist, chess player, storyteller and teacher. He also was very modest about his talents and very eager to learn new things. While at Frankel we did many things outside the office including: fishing, camping and enjoying good music. He came out of the apprentice program, taught others and brought his unique style to everything he touched. His successes gave hope to other apprentices that followed in his path. I think everybody who knew him had to smile when they saw Gerry. He was a great observer of people. His humor was quick, sarcastic, original and memorable. Gerry believed in washing his own car, taking care of his family first, and keeping his beer cold. It’s been so long since I’ve seen him and he was a big part of my Frankel years. My condolences to Cathy and their family.Mark

Enjoyed working with Gerry at Frankel for many good years.He always had a positive attitude and a good sense of humor.My condolences.

Please accept our deepest condolences for your family's loss.