Jerry ‘Gerasimos’ E. Kalogeratos, 96

Jerry Kalogeratos, of Pine Island, NY, passed peacefully on January 22, 2024, at age 96. The son of Erotokritos and Andromache Kalogeratos, he was born on the captivating Greek island, Kefalonia, which he embodied in strength and charisma.

He is predeceased by five siblings and nephew, Yanni. He is survived by his daughter Elvira and grandson Manousos; son Erotokritos, his wife, Matina, and grandchildren Joanna and Gerasimos; niece Elvira, her husband George, and their daughter Maria; nephew Erotokritos and wife Oksana; niece Katerina and husband Reinhold; nephew Stephen Krikelis, his wife Lissi, and their children Chrysa and Yanni; numerous extended family members, and Barbara Lanza, her daughter Emily Silver, her husband Justin Parish, and their daughter Fiona, and son Daniel Silver, and Rachael Young.

In his youth, Jerry endured the dreadful occupation of Kefalonia during WWII and Greece’s subsequent civil war. He moved to Athens to pursue higher education, and thereafter, Italy, where he graduated from the Motion Picture Academy of Cinecitta in Rome. Back in Athens, he worked as cinematographer for several feature films, including “300 Spartans” for 20th Century Fox. Upon emigrating to New York City, he was cinematographer for several more features including the lost classic, “The Noah.” In television, he filmed the “American Sportsman” series, as well as award-winning shorts and commercials, often using innovative cameras of his own design. In the late 70s, he moved back to Greece and opened a studio in Athens.

Eventually returning to New York, he spent his remaining 27 years in Pine Island, where he and Barbara Lanza devoted their lives to one another. He worked on a new camera prototype and his photographs show his appreciation for the beauty of the Black Dirt region. At age 94, he wrote a philosophic essay, “From Instinct to Knowledge.”

During his terminal illness, he enjoyed the comforts of home thanks to the tender care provided by Hospice of Orange and Sullivan Counties. Above all else, people remember Jerry for the special way he made them feel. He lived to personify the meaning of his surname, Kalogeratos, which translates as Good Old Man.