| Jerrold
was educated at Rondebosch Boys' High and Highlands North
before qualifying for Bachelors and Masters degrees in
civil engineering at Witwatersrand University. He
subsequently lectured at Wits as well as being involved
in a large number of construction projects, many of them
in the field of low cost housing. In the late
1960's his interest in positional astronomy led him to
the then Transvaal Centre where he became Chairman for
the year 1969 - 1970. This was a critical period
for the Centre as the CSIR was planning to close the
Republic Observatory. Jerrold joined in the public
outcry against this step and I think that his efforts
helped us to secure a very favourable deal from the CSIR
when the Observatory was closed down. I cannot help
but think that, had he still been involved in our affairs
in 1987 when our headquarters were sold from under us by
the CSIR, he would have been prepared to grapple with the
bureaucratic mind and we may again have been given
special consideration.
In
the early 1970's, the Centre as well as the Observatory
were active in grazing occultation expeditions. In
those days people were less timid about venturing into
the unknown at night. I shared his car with Jerrold
on a number of occasions and we had long hours of
conversation which in Jerrold's case, was always
interesting. Sometimes we just drove in
companionable silence. In public, he was a good
speaker with a distinctive style. In conversation,
he had a highly judicial manner, with his pipe usually
present to emphasise points.
Jerrold
was a very forthright person. Five years ago he
told me that he had inoperable cancer and talked quite
calmly about his very limited future. He continued
working as long as he was able and while this was
undoubtedly good for him, I regret that there never
seemed to be an opportunity for us to get together for
talk. I shall miss him and so will many others.
Our
best wishes go to his widow and daughters.
D.O.
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