Colonel Gerald ‘Jerry’ B. Olender (ret.) Of Westhampton Dies August 30

Gerald B. (Jerry) Olender of Westhampton, NY, passed away after a long illness on Sunday, August 30, 2020 with his loving wife, Sharon, and daughter, Andrea, at his side. He was born on March 26, 1943 in Amsterdam, NY, the second of four sons of Joseph S. And Florence (Jacobson) Olender. As a child, he attended the local public schools and graduated from Wilbur H. Lynch Senior High School in 1961. Jerry had a beautiful baritone voice and sang in his high school choir.

After attending Buffalo State University, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and received his USAF Navigator Wings at Mather AFB in 1966. He was deployed to Vietnam where he flew missions back and forth to the US for two years. He then sought employment as a navigator, first for Flying Tiger Line and then for Seaboard World Airlines. He really loved the military and was accepted as an officer in the New York Air National Guard where he remained, with the NYANG, until his retirement as a Colonel in 1998. His first assignment was with the 109th Airlift Wing, and in 1975, he transferred to his final unit, the 106th Rescue Wing in Westhampton Beach.

Jerry met his first wife, Helga Schroeder, on an airplane from New York to Albany. She was a geologist studying the recent NASA-acquired moon rocks at Dudley Observatory. Soon after, they were married in February 1973. They were blessed with two children - a son Gavin, who currently resides in Bremen, Germany with his wife and three children; and a daughter, Andrea, who lives in southern New Jersey, with her husband and two children.

Jerry spent his retirement years doing volunteer work in the Westhampton Beach community. For eighteen years, he served as a member of the daily minyan at the Hampton Synagogue and as a Kohen at services. He was well respected and loved by members of the congregation. For over fifteen years he volunteered as an usher at the WHB Performing Arts Center. Because of his love of children, he especially enjoyed volunteering for assignments at school day and at circus performances. Later, he brought his second wife Sharon into volunteer service, and the couple made many new friends in the community.

Jerry met Dr. Sharon Fagan, a resident of Remsenburg, in 2007. Sharon, an award-winning educator, had worked as Director of Special Programs at Eastern Suffolk BOCES for twenty-three years. She was an East End Women’s Network Woman of The Year and served as the NY State Education Department’s Coordinator of the Suffolk County Gateway Program, which opened doors to education, workplace training and employment. Jerry and Sharon met at a community event in 2007, and it was love at first sight. In fact, their favorite story was the miracle of finding each other. They married in 2010 and spent many happy years traveling the world and spending time with family and friends. Sharon and Jerry were devoted and inseparable as a loving couple. Jerry welcomed Sharon’s daughter, Julie Ehrman, her husband Michael, and their three sons into his own family. And they immediately loved Grandpa Jerry. Jerry Olender’s warm, outgoing personality - he was both a good listener and fascinating story-teller - made him charismatic and charming. But above all, he cared about people and was a compassionate brother, father, grandfather, husband, and friend.

He is sorely missed by all who knew him. However, his legacy lives on in their hearts, a blessing never to be forgotten.

Jerry is survived by the following family members:

- Wife Sharon, of Westhampton, New York

- Son Gavin, daughter-in-law Lubba, and grandchildren Leila, Aiden and Ethan of Bremen, Germany

- Daughter Andrea Hester, son-in-law Roy Hester, and grandchildren Jack and Katie of Sicklerville, New Jersey

- Stepdaughter Julie Ehrman, son-in-law Michael Ehrman, and grandsons Brendan, Hudson and Shea of Plano, Texas

- Brother Dr Irving Olender of Campbell, California

- Brother Robert Olender of Charleston, South Carolina

- Brother Arnold Olender of Marietta, Georgia

If you wish to honor Jerry with a contribution, donations may be made to the following local non-profit agency, fightingchance.org, a free counseling and resource center for cancer patients and their families.