Jerome Bernard Drayman, 78
Jerome Bernard Drayman was born on June 18, 1943, in Manhattan, NY. Jerry (as he was known to his friends and family) passed away peacefully after a hard-fought battle with Parkinson's disease on March 12, 2022, in Glen Allen, Va.
On Oct. 29, 1967, Jerry married Phyllis after meeting her while in college and they went on to have two children together, Eric and Randi. They both thoroughly enjoyed traveling and Jerry often used to go on trips out west and on
cruises into the Carribean with his family when his children were on break. Jerry and Phyllis were married for 37 years before Phyllis passed away in 2005.
Jerry was a lover of technology and engineering, earning his Bachelor of Science from the New York Institute of Technology in 1968. He worked at several famous companies from the early 1970s through the millennium such as Gruman early in his career to Securities Industry Automation Corporation (SIAC) where he was in charge of developing and monitoring all the computers that completed the securities exchanges within the New York Stock Exchange. One of the greatest accomplishments of his career was that he and his team created the ticker-tape the New York Stock Exchange used before the technology was fully automated.
He possessed the rare combination of envisioning the future along with technological skill, so he was a natural to step into and become successful in the engineering and financial fields of well-known companies that impact millions of people's lives. His work helped to build and evolve the way the New York Stock Exchange operates today.
After his career, Jerry was a man with many passions. He was a racquetball enthusiast and a soda aficionado. He certainly had a sweet tooth and loved traveling on cruise ships all across the world. When he was not eating, traveling, or playing racquetball, he enjoyed playing poker and chess with his friends. He was so good at chess that his oldest grandson was never able to beat him until he graduated high school (He started playing with him when he was 8)! He was a strong supporter of Lanesborough's Steel Rail Half Marathon
He was a kind man with a demeanor like no other and he will be truly missed.
He is survived by a loving family: his son Eric and his wife Cherie, his daughter Randi and her husband Ryan, his sister Hariet, his nephews Bruce and Jeff, his niece Stacey, and his four grandchildren Ari, Shaw, Jory, and Mira.
Funeral services will be held at Cedar Park Cemetery in Paramus, New Jersey on Wednesday March 16, 2022 at 1:15 pm. In Lieu of Flowers, the family requests memorial contributions may be made to the Parkinson's Foundation, an organization Jerry felt strongly about.