Plan for the Future
Gerald Beatty passed away peacefully the evening of Wednesday, December 27th. He was surrounded by family and sports memorabilia, while listening to Verdi and the Weavers. As he had a variety of health issues throughout 2023, it was a blessing that he left us quietly, painlessly, and with dignity.
Gerry was a journalist, sports editor and statistician, obsessive opera fan, and passionate champion of human rights causes. A renaissance man, Gerry studied music of all kinds, theater, literature, American history, Asian cultures, and politics. He attended civil rights marches and supported causes devoted to equal rights and opportunities. He saw over 3,000 opera and theater performances (especially Verdi’s Falstaff), and over 2,000 sports events personally and professionally. His career included sports editor at the New York Post, and features editor at Conde Nast. He covered most New York teams (the Mets, Yankees, Cosmos, Jets, Red Bulls, Sky Blue, Rutgers, Knicks, Nets, etc., as a reporter, stringer for AP, play-by-play scorer, statistician, and general sports junkie. He covered world series, all star, and world cup games. He co-wrote the official scorer rules for the North American Soccer League, was official scorer for the Cosmos (including for Pele’s farewell game), and led stats crews for modern soccer teams up until 3 years ago. He passionately supported the Mets, Red Sox, Red Bulls, Rutgers Football, and West Ham United. Even when they were terrible.
Gerry leaves behind his wife Susan, who supported him mightily so he could attend many of the 3,000 performances and 2,000 ball games; and two sons, Mark and Steven. Mark’s family includes wife Pamela, and children Sarah and Alec; Steve’s family includes wife Tamara and children Morgan and Lindsay. Each one was his favorite. He never missed a show, performance, or graduation for any of them; and never forgot a hug or a present. He also leaves his sister Sheila and brother-in-law Ian, who loved and supported him and his well-meaning mishigas through thick and thin. And beloved relatives from the Beatty, Gitter, Shurgin, Shuster, and Lewis families. He was a very proud Weequahic and Rutgers graduate, something he stopped mentioning only yesterday. If he gave you tickets to a performance, or got you stats from a game, he loved you too.
Gerry’s funeral will be this Friday, December 29th, at Congregation Ohr Shalom – The Summit JCC, 67 Kent Place Boulevard, Summit, NJ at 12:00pm.
See https://link.edgepilot.com/s/0a3d8dec/PfQYI_splUy2qGPPStlagQ?u=http://www.summitjcc.org/ for synagogue information.
Shiva/visitation will be observed at the home of Mark Beatty and Pam Appel, 45 Evergreen Road, Summit, on:
Shiva will also be observed at the home of Steve and Tamara Beatty, 2091 Arbor Way, Martinsville on:
Gerry asked that contributions in his memory be made to the Weequahic High School Alumni Association: WHSAA, Box 494, Newark, NJ 07101 or weequahicalumni.org/scholarship-donations
