Gerald Arthur Wacknov was born on July 13, 1939, to Alex and Sadie Wacknov in Kansas City, Missouri. Jerry was the fifth of six children: Leonard (dec.), Paul, Donna, Betty (dec.), and David. After graduating from Southwest High School, Jerry attended Washington University in St. Louis and then the University of Missouri in Kansas City, where he graduated with a BA in Economics.
He married Myrna Cooper in 1963 and graduated from Columbia Law School in 1964. Jerry and Myrna then returned to Kansas City to start a family, and he began working as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In 1976, Jerry was appointed as an Administrative Law Judge. Consequently, the family relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area. Jerry retired in 2014 after a fifty-year career with the NLRB. In retirement, he spent his time following his passions: reading, hiking, bicycling, and especially creating artistic furniture and sculptural pieces.
Jerry died unexpectedly on October 10, 2025. He will be greatly missed by Myrna, his loving wife of 62 years; his sons Bill, Kevin, and Joel; his daughters-in-law Lisa and Eve-Marie; his grandsons Nicolas and Noah; Nicolas’s fiancée Kelsey; his siblings Paul, Donna, and David; his sister-in-law Chris; and many nieces, nephews, and friends.
A memorial service was held on Thursday, October 16, at 11 a.m. at Peninsula Sinai Congregation, 499 Boothbay Ave, Foster City, California. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests making a donation to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research or to any other charitable organization supporting and promoting humanitarian causes in honor of Jerry’s love for all people, especially those in need.
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