72, of Medfield, passed away unexpectedly on December 28, 2023. He is survived by his beloved wife, Kathleen Brennan; his cherished daughter, Laura Brennan Cianciolo, of Providence RI; his sister, Rose Marie Portera (Joe) of Oxford, MS; and two brothers, Bill Cianciolo of Oakland, TN; and Anthony Cianciolo of Nashville, TN. He was preceded in death by his parents, David Cianciolo and Mary Radogna Cianciolo, and his brother, David Cianciolo, Jr.
Jerry was born on May 22, 1951, in Memphis, TN, graduated from Catholic High School for Boys in 1969 and went on to Ripon College in Ripon, WI where he met his lifelong best friend, Eric Behrman the very first day, challenging him to what would become hundreds of trash-talk filled games of table tennis. Jerry graduated in 1974 after taking a year off to hitchhike, penniless, across the country. The stories of his nights sleeping in the Redwood Forest and making shoes from torn tires were only bestowed upon a lucky few. Jerry preferred hearing your story to telling his.
Settling down a bit from his wanderlust – Jitterbug was his father’s apt nickname for him – Jerry went on to become President of the now defunct Ethan Allen Community College in Manchester, VT and later, Director of Development at The Charles River Museum of Industry in Waltham, MA. From there, he accepted the position of Crusade Director for the Massachusetts Division of the American Cancer Society in 1984 where his life took a fortuitous turn when he met his future wife and business partner, Kathleen Brennan, the Director of Service & Rehabilitation for the American Cancer Society’s Massachusetts Division. Bonding over their travails with a difficult boss one night over drinks at a conference in New Orleans, Jerry and Kathy decided to launch their own consulting business with little more than hope and confidence in each other’s ability to figure it out. Thus was born in 1986, their first venture, Cambridge Fundraising Associates, which until its final iteration, Emerson & Church Publishers was sold in 2022, helped a generation or two of volunteers, boards of directors, and staff learn the basic ins and outs of fundraising. At its height, Emerson & Church had a catalog of 28 titles and had sold hundreds of thousands of books to nonprofit organizations across the world – all edited by Jerry, whose exacting pursuit of clarity was the key to the books’ successes, if not the bane of his authors’ patience.
United in the struggle to survive their small business, Jerry and Kathy wed in 1992 and were blessed with their daughter, Laura a year later. Alternating childcare with work, Jerry instigated years of trips and fun adventures for Laura and her neighborhood friends. He filled snack boxes, erected swings, built skating rinks and balance beams, organized flag football games, coached softball and, even into his 70’s, would never turn down a game of Horse or Monopoly.
When COVID forced his retirement from editing, Jerry became a man of many pursuits. Meaning, he pursued a challenging idea, project, or endeavor with his signature exasperatingly high bar of perfectionism, always striving to be better, or “what’s a heaven for,” he would say with a half-grimace. Self-taught classical guitar, experimenting with ways to cook tofu, labor-intensive organic gardening from seedlings, and many overzealous masonry and carpentry projects occupied his days.
To further challenge his brain, he undertook hours and hours of research and many practice sessions with his patient wife to create and lead a program at local senior centers, called Minds in Motion. The sessions touched upon topics as diverse as ethics, art, philosophy, and music to spices, greeting cards, and food photography. Not meant to be instructional, as Jerry would never deign to be an authority on anything, the focus was on engaging participants with each other. “Have some fun, stretch your mind, and enjoy the company,” is how he described the Medfield program, which won a first-place award in 2019 from the National Institute of Senior Centers Programs of Excellence.
Thinking deeply about a variety of subjects also prompted Jerry to write articles for The Boston Globe, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal, on wide-ranging topics such as World War II Memorials, Piggly Wiggly Grocery Stores, and instant replay in baseball.
His latter pursuits of excellence involved walking his irascible terrier, Dewey 7-10 miles a day and remembering the names of the dogs and grandchildren of everyone he cheerily greeted along the way. He always made the effort to connect, engage, and remember. It was his superpower.
At his death, Jerry had completed two chapters of a book with a working title of Prescriptions for a Well-Lived Life. One chapter, Seek No Acclaim, was a central tenet of his life: humility. It begins with a quote from Lao Tzu: “He who tries to shine dims his own light.”
Jerry‘s pilot light gleamed bright of its own accord. Lucky are those who were warmed by it.
If so inclined, donations in his memory may be sent to the Medfield Food Cupboard.
