In Memory of Jerry Michaels
In early April, MCJC lost one of its founding members, Jerrold ‘Jerry’ Michaels, and the world lost a kind and generous man, engaged, ethical, witty, and scholarly to the end. Jerry passed away on April 6 at the age of 88 after a relatively brief illness, leaving behind his beloved wife of 67 years, Marian, two daughters, Vanessa Ehrlich and Wendy Shanker, and their respective spouses, five grandchildren, and one great-grandchild (soon to be a second).
Jerry was born in 1933 on the south side of Chicago, and he attended Hyde Park High School. He received his BA and BS from the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign in psychology and veterinary medicine respectively and stayed on to earn his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine. Arguably his most important accomplishment during his university years was his successful courtship of Marian Lee Diamond, whom he met his sophomore year and wed in 1955. Their loving marriage, full of good humor and spirited conversations, was one for the ages. Their love never waned.
Jerry and Marian moved to Crystal Lake in 1959 when Jerry bought a veterinary practice. He worked on both large and small animals for the first six years, visiting area farms when not in the office. His daughters noted in their joint eulogy at his funeral that he decided to work solely with small animals “after thoughtful counsel with a client, a cow, who kicked him in the leg and broke his bone.”
Jerry’s chosen profession was ironic, his daughters noted, given that he was a city boy whose only interaction with animals in his youth was the book, Lad a Dog, by Albert Payson Terhune, and whose only pet was a goldfish. But Jerry grew the Fox Valley Animal Hospital to become one of the best-regarded vet clinics in the county. He retired just seven years ago at the age of 82, and the practice continues to flourish, a legacy of his business acumen.
Jerry was a family man in the truest sense, and he and Marian ensured that all members of his extended family got to spend quality time together. Their family trips to far-flung locales like Cuba or Paris or Columbia were the stuff of family lore, and some of their adventures were recounted by their grandchildren at his funeral. On his last morning of life, his grandchildren were able to share letters with Jerry expressing their love and admiration for him. According to his daughters, “He laughed, he commented, and of course, he critiqued.”
In addition to his work and his family, Jerry had many other dimensions to his long, full life. He gave generously to many causes, including political, Jewish, and his scholarship fund at the University of Illinois Veterinary School. He swam daily, never missed Jim Cramer’s show on the stock market, and was a leading member of a Great Books Club. In fact, he was scheduled to lead a discussion on Hamlet the week after his passing. His emailed jokes, which tended to be a bit on the ‘salty’ side, could elicit as many groans as laughs!
Jerry’s daughters urged attendees of his funeral to “take a minute to call your parents, read a little Shakespeare, and kiss your spouse,” ending with a line from Hamlet: “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in our philosophy.”
The family notes that contributions in Jerry’s memory may be made to the Jerrold and Marian Michaels Veterinary Scholarship Fund at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine, Office of Advancement, Suite 3516, 2001 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, IL 61082, or to the charity of your choice.
