Obituary of Jerry Guenette

Bar Harbor, ME - Gerald (Jerry) R. Guenette, Jr., formerly of Cambridge and Salem, passed away on February 3, 2021, at the Northern Lights Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor, Maine at the age of 74. He was born on April 20, 1946, the son of Gerald R. Guenette, Sr., and Helen (Clancy) Guenette. From an early age, Jerry had a love of science. He was always working on science projects, and was on the TV program, "Science Countdown", when he was in the eighth grade. He also had a love of classical music; he was an accomplished clarinetist, playing not only with his high school band, but also performing with the Northeast Regional and Allstate Bands. He graduated from Salem High School in 1964 and while there, he was selected as a delegate to Boys State. He received his Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. As an MIT undergraduate, he completed the US Air Force ROTC program. While serving as an officer in the Air Force, he was assigned as a project scientist to the Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base in California. He received one of the top technical achievement awards granted by the Air Force Systems Command and was also presented with the General Bernard A. Schriever Award. Jerry was later employed at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratories, and then at the MIT Gas Turbine Laboratory in Cambridge to conduct research projects and teach graduate classes until his retirement. One of Jerry’s favorite pastimes was photography. He took numerous photographs, especially of nature subjects. He made many friends in Bar Harbor and loved to climb mountains. For many years on New Year’s Eve, he and his friends would climb Cadillac Mountain and remain at the top to observe one of the earliest sunrises in the United States. The people of Bar Harbor have been so wonderful and loving to Jerry and were always there to help him during his progressive illness. He is survived by his sister, Kathleen and her husband Bob of Lynnfield, and several cousins, including Jim McHugh of Peabody and Elaine (Guenette) Greenwood and Paul Guenette of Florida. He is also survived by dear friends Junnie Yu, April and Bruce Carlson, Jingfeng Zhong, David Coffin, Ruddy Li, Tina Porter, Heidi Turner, Kathy Hall, Cathy Jay, and Ave Damelio. His funeral services will be held at the Conway Cahill-Brodeur Funeral Home, 82 Lynn Street, Peabody, Saturday, February 13, 2021 at 11:30 a.m. immediately followed by burial at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Lynn. Relatives and friends are invited to attend. All attendees are required to wear a mask and adhere to social distancing guidelines. Contributions to Parkinson’s Foundation can be made online at www.parkinson.org or by mailing to Parkinson’s Foundation Attn: Donor Services 200 SE 1st Street, Suite 800 Miami, FL 33131. For directions and online guestbook please visit www.ccbfuneral.com.