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Jerrold Martin North was born Dec 8, 1931 in
Chicago, IL, to Leonard and Esther North; grew up in the north side of the Windy
City; and briefly attended the University of Illinois before entering West
Point. He had few problems at the Academy, except for a brief scare with
engineering drawing his plebe year, and progressively improved his academic
standing until he attained the Dean's List his first class year. Although soccer
was his major sport, he also played Army B squad football and threw the javelin
for the track team. Jerry enjoyed the happy cadet days and adventures he shared
with his Company B-1 classmates, especially the relaxed camping weekends up in
the mountains on the West Point reservation with the Fishing Club.
After graduation, Jerry joined the Field Artillery and, following jump school,
spent two years with the 82nd Airborne Division. He then served nine months at
Ft. Sill, attending the first surface-to-surface missile course. This was
followed by assignments to the 3rd Infantry Division and the 10th Infantry
Division as a battery executive officer. Following the launch of Sputnik, he was
chosen to attend a two-year program at Redstone Arsenal and the University of
Alabama to obtain a master’s degree in mechanical engineering. While at
Redstone, Jerry met and married Gayle von Plonski, a student at Connecticut
College for Women, originally from Washington, DC. Daughter Lore was born in
Tuscaloosa, AL, while Jerry was getting his masters degree. Upon graduation, he
was assigned as a future weapons officer at Redstone, where he helped organize
the first anti-tank missile symposium. Lindy was born at Aberdeen Proving
Grounds, MD, while Jerry was attending the Officer Advanced Course. This was
followed by assignments as a special weapons officer in Korea and assistant
project manager for combat vehicles in Detroit.
Jerry resigned from the Army in 1963 to enter the Foreign Service of the
Department of State. His first assignment was to the Embassy in Kinshasa, Congo,
as an administrative officer, aide to the Ambassador, and acting consul in
Bukavu, eastern Congo. In this latter assignment, Jerry had the unique
distinction of being appointed Honorary Consul of India by the Ambassador of
India. In this honorary role, he was responsible for recording marriages, deaths
and births and mediating disputes among the Indian clans living in the eastern
Congo. After Bukavu, he was sent to Belgium as second secretary, covering both
foreign and Belgian university student activities whose unrest culminated in
major anti-government demonstrations throughout most of Western Europe.
Returning to Washington in 1968, Jerry served as an intelligence analyst for
much of central Africa and then as country desk officer for Guinea, Togo, and
Benin. In this latter assignment, he received the Department of State
Meritorious Achievement Medal.
Washington was followed by assignments to Vietnam as province senior advisor;
Malawi as first secretary consul; Sierra Leone as deputy chief of mission and
consul; and Somalia as deputy chief of mission. In Malawi, circa 1974, Jerry and
Gayle were welcomed at the Chileka Airport for embassy duty in the nearby city
of Blantyre by Army LTC Robert Morris (C-2), a West Point classmate, and his
wife Liz. Robert was serving as defense attaché, so the Morrises and Norths
shared official duties and social occasions on the diplomatic circuit. Courtney
was born in Blantyre. Jerry was very effective and popular among the diplomatic
corps in Malawi. His later appointment as an ambassador reflected his skills as
a career foreign service officer. In 1980, Jerry was named by President Jimmy
Carter to be the first American Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti, where he
served until 1982.
Returning to the United States, he was posted to the Armed Forces Staff College
in Norfolk, VA, as Foreign Affairs Advisor. His last assignments in the
Department of State were as director of employee relations and then director of
performance evaluation. Jerry retired in 1985 with more than 37 years of actual
and accrued government service. That same year he joined the staff of
International House, a housing and social organization for foreign graduate
students, most attending Columbia University in New York. Jerry left
International House in 1987 and retired to the family’s country retreat at Lake
Meade, PA. In time he was elected vice president of the Owner's Association and
watched the community grow from just seven houses to over 1,000. He also became
an avid gardener, serving as the Lake Meade Gardening Club president for many
years. The Adams County Republican Party chose him to be a committeeman, a
position he filled until he and Gayle moved to be closer to their daughters.
He and Gayle celebrated their 49th anniversary on Jun 6, 2006. He is survived by
his wife Gayle; daughters Lore Yao, Linden North and Courtney North, (the latter
two Doctors of Veterinary Medicine); and three grandchildren, David, Catherine
and Christopher Yao.
—Classmates, wife & self written |
