Jerome (Jerry) Press of New Milford, NJ passed away on November 3, 2021 at the age of 86.
Beloved husband of Flora (nee Kaufman), loving father of Sari Miller (Ira), devoted grandfather to Allan, Richard and Frances Miller.
Born and raised in Newark, he graduated as valedictorian from Arts High School in 1953. After high school, he dressed windows for Bamberger’s Newark before entering Princeton University. While at Princeton, he designed sets for the Triangle Club and covers for the Princeton Engineering Magazine.
After graduating from Princeton in 1957 he worked for IBM as a draftsman and then as a graphic designer for the Port Authority of NY and NJ. As supervisor of graphic services for the Port Authority, he oversaw the transition from manual designing to desktop computers. His freelance design clients included the Jane Austen Society of North America, Touro Synagogue and educational publishers. He received a masters degree from Columbia Teachers College and after retiring from the Port Authority taught at Kean University and community college in Middlesex, Union and Bergen counties.
He and his family lived in Edison, NJ for 36 years before moving to New Milford. He served as president of the Art Directors Club of NJ and was a frequent phone bank volunteer for UJA Federation campaigns in both Edison and New Milford. An active member of Congregation Keter Torah in Teaneck, he designed decorations for holiday events and edited the annual dinner journal.
Funeral services were held at Plaza Jewish Community Chapel in New York City and burial was at Old Montifiore Cemetery in Queens.