The McCarty Metro - Jerry's World

MEMORIES

ED NOTE: How can anyone surmise Jerry's life in one article? You would need multiple books to come close to telling the story of Jerry McCarty. Within the Metro this month, all of his brothers shared several stories on what he meant each of us. We hope that you will also add some things you remember about Jerry. Please take the time to fill in the form below or email your thoughts and memories to mccartymetro@gmail.com. I will then update this page throughout the month with your memories below, as well as compile them for the March edition of the McCarty Metro.

PLEASE SHARE YOUR JERRY STORIES OR MEMORIES OF JERRY FOR THE MCCARTY METRO

Your Name:
Memories Of Jerry:

SUBMITTED MEMORIES

Austin McCarty:
Playing basketball on our backyard patio with Uncle Jerry, I tried to rebound a ball as it bounded towards the windows of our Florida Room. I tried my best, but was just a tad too late as the ball bounced through the Florida Room window, crushing it basically over my head, leaving me to be littered in shattered glass. I still have the scars to prove it!

Watching Jerry do his James Brown impression during a night of Karaoke. He jumped up on our table, danced around, took our beers and slammed them all, one by one. Jerry is a madman. Very entertaining performance, and wish he would have done America's Got Talent.

Flying out to San Francisco for a GM Hackathon at UC Berkeley, We ended up flying in to LA and drive up Highway 1. I called up Jerry to see if he wanted to meet up while we were there, He went above and beyond, buying a hotel for us and taking us out to the Polo Lounge for a nice dinner. It was awesome to meet up with Him & Evan during our stay there.

Ben Stonecipher:
Unfortunately I never had an opportunity to meet Jerry. I added him to my prayer list when I first heard of his passing. Please know that I am praying for the family. Thanks for keeping the Metro. Take Care

Pat Rosso:
I've known Jerry since he was 19 years old. He was a funny, geeky, but brilliant kid at that time. I have SO many memories, but will post just one that always embarrassed him. Even late in his illness, we still laughed about it. After one of his many knee surgeries, Jerry decided he was Superman and could come to work the next day - still high on paid meds and awful pain. I went to his office early one morning to see how he was doing and the door was closed - THAT never happened. I knocked and got some kind of verbal nonsense from him. I opened the door and found him lying on the floor rolling around in pain. I took one look at him and said "that's it - I'm taking you home". He didn't even argue. My ride at that time was a brand new, gorgeous blue Camaro. Remember - Jer was one TALL dude and I'm trying to fit him in a Camaro with a bum leg, high on pain killers and a lot of pain. I push the passenger seat back as far as it would go and reclined the seat all the way down. Somehow, he fit! He's moaning, groaning and saying "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry". Next thing I know, projectile vomit spews from my friends mouth, all over my new shiny ride. Again, he starts with the "OMG, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." I want to console him and tell him it's alright, but I'm gagging from the smell. HAHAHAHA. I get him home, out of the car, into the house and I grab some towels and Windex from his house. I try to clean it up as best as I can. Unfortunately, that really didn't do the trick. I ended up taking it to a car wash and told them I would pay WHATEVER to clean the inside. $50 later, it was at least semi-respectable, but that SMELL. OMG... it lasted for weeks. I rarely let Jer forget about that incident. Especially if I needed something. I LOVED this man. I will miss him forever. Rest in peace, Jer. God Bless.

Gene Skladnowski:
I sadly never got to meet Jerry in person. I was however blessed to have gotten to know him because of Ancestry.com. Through the site's DNA matching results both he and Kathleen Unti were identified as first cousins. After discussing this revelation between the two of them, they both agreed that I had to be related and they welcomed me into the McCarty Clan. Afterwards, Jerry and I exchanged several emails and I got to know him even better through The McCarty Metro as he shared his talent and life experiences with all of us. His brother Kelly aka Brad Savage and I got together for dinner with our wives while I was vacationing in Michigan this past Summer. During our dinner Jerry made a surprise visit via FaceTime while he was receiving treatments in the hospital. This brief electronic encounter will stay with me forever as he called me "His brother from another mother." I can only hope that when it is my turn to pass on, that I will be greeted by him and his infectious, impish smile. God Bless you and keep you in his loving arms Jerry McCarty.

Phil Ventura:
Jerry and I were fellow employees in the 90s at The Cross Company. I can particularly recall what fun we had playing pick-up basketball after work at Joe Dumars Fieldhouse. Somehow Jerry must have arranged for the company to pay any fees, since I never was asked to contribute - no wonder, I suppose, as Jerry was company comptroller at that time. He was a talented athlete. I recall that he had at least one bum leg, but that never stopped him from taking risks in driving to the basket. You or one or more of your brothers also played with us off and on. A fine man in every respect, Jerry will never be forgotten by those who knew him. He is missed.

The Best Of

FEBRUARY, 2009

ll, it’s Academy Award time and that means those little McCarty Grandbrats will be going to see all of the new films at the theaters. Just thinking about those Movie Morons makes me hotter than the bulb on Dennis McCarty’s Super 8 projector.

Those Cinema Softies will going to those fancy schmancy Cineplex's with stadium seating, surround sound, reclining seats, cup holders, and extra leg room. Why don’t they just give you a “pillow and a blankie” and let you spend the night? When I was a kid we went to the Roseville Theatre and it had one screen with a stain on it, no cup holder, metal seats, and no leg room. You put your drink between your legs and didn’t even think of putting your feet on the floor, because a rat might bite you. Sure they only showed movies about 5 years after their original release and you’d come out of the theatre smelling like mildew, but we didn’t care we loved it! Because it was only $1.99 and popcorn was only one cent.

And those Gourmet Goofballs will be getting all kinds of snacks; they’ll get nachos, hot dogs, pretzels, pizza, and a churro (whatever that is). When I was a kid, if you wanted a snack you got a flat coke with too much syrup and a box of milk duds. Sure they had popcorn, but nobody ate it. It was usually cold, damp, and you didn’t know what was crawling in it. We ate sticky candy and flat pop but we didn’t care, we loved it. Because after you finished the Milk Duds you could blow into the empty box and make a funny noise.

And now those Internet Idiots go on-line to buy their tickets at Fandango.com. My dad wouldn’t think of buying tickets in advance. If the movie was sold out, he’d just buy tickets to another movie in the Cineplex. One time when “The Natural” was sold out, he and my mom bought tickets to “Pumpkinhead” and then snuck in the theatre where “The Natural” was playing. Sure that meant some poor sucker didn’t get a seat, but he didn’t care, he loved it.

So you go to your local Cineplex and see Benjamin Buttons. I’m going back to the Roseville Theater and going to see “Gator” with Burt Reynolds and Lauren Hutton for $1.99. And while you are listening to your Dolby Surround Sound, I’ll be eating Milk Duds and smelling like a swamp.