CEDAR email: Mourning the passing of Gerry Romick

[Mark Conde]

Dear CEDAR Community,

It is with great sadness that I share news of the passing of Gerry 
Romick, who was one of the original founders of the CEDAR program. Gerry 
served as the founding Chair of the CEDAR Science Steering Committee 
from 1986 to 1988, and as the NSF Program Manager responsible for CEDAR 
from 1988 to 1990. Appended below is an obituary provided by Gerry's 
family, with some additions from Roger Smith - who was himself the CSSC 
Chair during 2001-2003, and who was one of Gerry's close colleagues at 
the University of Alaska.

- Mark Conde

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Gerald J. Romick passed away on October 15, 2025 in Portland Oregon.  He 
was born on January 26, 1932 in Ennis Texas. He was preceded in death by 
his parents Frances (Towb) and Abraham H. Romick, his sister and brother 
in-law Sandra and Danny Plotnick and his granddaughter Maia Hisamoto.  
He is survived by his wife of 71+ years Marcia Romick, his six children 
Joan (Shelly) Romick, Jay (Jan) Romick, Carl (Cindy) Romick, Mark 
(Angela) Romick, Eliel (Mark) Fionn, Michael (Alice) Romick, 15 
grandchildren and their partners, 13 great grandchildren and numerous 
cousins, nieces and nephews in Alaska, Washington, California and Texas.

When asked to pick his middle name by his parents, Gerry said “Jerry” 
and that is how he became Gerald-Jerry or GJ. Later his name came in 
handy when people referred to his projects as “jerry-rigged” which 
wasn’t necessarily bad!  After growing up in Texas and Guadalajara 
Mexico, and attending Peacock Military Academy, Gerry came to Alaska in 
1950 driving up the Alcan from Texas to Alaska with his mom and sister; 
no easy feat!

His father Abe, started a men’s clothing store (Romick’s Menswear) in 
downtown Anchorage, later becoming Alaska’s first Commissioner of 
Commerce after statehood.  Gerry enrolled in the University of Alaska- 
Fairbanks (UAF), earning a BA in physics in 1952 and then a MS degree in 
physics from University of California – Los Angeles in 1954, where he 
met Marcia and married on September 5, 1954. He completed his education 
with a PHD in Geophysics from UAF in 1964.

He began working at UAF’s GI (Geophysical Institute) while in graduate 
school.  He worked at the Fairbanks campus, the Ester Dome Observatory 
and Poker Flat Rocket range while teaching numerous physics classes to 
both graduate and undergraduate students.  While still working at the 
GI, he provided key leadership establishing the CEDAR (Coupling and 
Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions) program at NSF (The National Science 
Foundation).  He followed this up with several years as a program 
manager aligning several different disciplines into a single research 
enterprise. Over the ensuing years, NSF leadership has been impressed 
with its scientific productivity, student support and longevity. CEDAR 
is one of the most successful programs in Foundation history.

In the early days of CEDAR, Jerry used his wit and optimism to persuade 
community leaders within the CEDAR program to work together in harmony. 
He was widely accepted and respected in his work as program manager.
Following retirement from UAF in 1987 with a Professor Emeritus 
honorific, he and Marcia moved to the East Coast continuing his work for 
CEDAR at the NSF. Jerry’s long experience observing atmospheric optical 
emissions led to an understanding of the data which gave him a knack for 
coming up with productive hunches which stimulated directions for new 
theoretical work and observational programs. This led to work with 
scientists at John Hopkins Applied Physics Lab, Laurel Maryland in their 
satellite programs. He retired from John Hopkins in 2000.

After retirement he and Marcia moved to Eugene Oregon, where they lived 
until their move to a SW Portland assisted living community in 2022.  
While in Eugene, Jerry continued his fine woodworking projects, building 
numerous hardwood cradles for his grandchildren. He also helped Marcia, 
an Orchid Competition judge, with photography and schlepping plants here 
and there.  He was an avid hiker and swimmer throughout his life.
Quick witted and fun loving, he taught his kids to work hard and always 
try to fix something yourself, because if it was broken, you couldn’t 
make it any worse. He will be fondly remembered by all those who worked 
with him in the geophysical and space sciences community and sorely 
missed by his family. His life was filled with family and food.

In remembrance, his family suggests hugging your favorite scientist, 
always taking your hunches seriously, and making generous contributions 
to democratic organizations, public broadcasting and your local parks.