Gerald Charles Vigneron, of Concord and Naples, Florida, died at home in Naples on February 4. He was 77.
Jerry — with a J., not a G. — was born on May 12, 1947, in Buffalo, New York, to Eugene and Geraldine Wolfertz Vigneron. He lived with his older brothers Alan and Douglas and his younger sister Marianne in Snyder and Amherst, New York. In the early 1950s, the family moved to Wellesley for Eugene’s work with Sylvania before settling in Concord. Jerry, an energetic classmate known as Vigs, found a group of friends upon entering Concord-Carlisle High School as a sophomore, and he remained close with many for the rest of his life. After CCHS, Jerry attended Allegheny College, where he studied political science and was a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. He was a lively and entertaining fraternity brother.
Jerry worked on the gubernatorial campaign of Frank Sargent, where he met his first wife, Anne Marie McGarry. They lived in Concord together with their son Peter and daughter Hannah until their divorce in 1993. In Concord, he was a member of the Zoning Board of Appeals and served as treasurer of the Concord Independent Battery. He started the Vigneron Insurance Agency in the early 1980s and later worked for Courier Publishing and as a consultant in the insurance and banking industries. A second marriage to Susan Abraham ended in 2017.
Jerry was a sharp, analytical thinker with an unusual and exacting memory. He liked arguing, especially about politics, and he was mostly good-natured about it. He was happiest when he was chewing over a problem or working an angle. He loved cars, high-performance BMWs best of all, skiing, and visiting friends and family.
In 2020, Jerry moved to Naples and became a fanatical pickleball player. He made a lot of friends on the court. When he died of a suspected heart attack shortly after a pickleball tournament, he was weighing the benefits and risks of different cardiovascular interventions. He is missed by his great network of friends, his extended family, and in particular his niece Emily; his grandsons Dory and Sam; and Peter and Hannah, all of whom wish he’d had more time to make a decision.
Relatives and friends are invited to gather for a memorial service at 11 a.m., Friday, March 28, at Trinitarian Congregational Church, 54 Walden Street.
Arrangements are entrusted to Dee Funeral Home & Cremation Service of Concord. To share a remembrance or offer a condolence on Jerry’s tribute page, visit DeeFuneralHome.com.
