Jerrold Craig Davidson

WORCESTER - Jerrold “Jerry” Craig Davidson, 70, passed away in the Autumn Village Nursing Center in Worcester on Sunday, June 19, 2016, after a battle with pneumonia.

Everyone who knew Jerry is remembering, now, his delightful, high-pitched giggle that could sometimes take over his entire body, as well as the wonder and joy in his eyes at simple pleasures, such as a visit with a loved one. We heard that giggle too little in the last few years and are glad he is finally at rest.

“I’m a survivor” Jerry said once. “That’s all I am. I’m a survivor.” And he was. Jerry was born in the waning days of World War II and, for him, regular life would remain a battle. He had developmental challenges that made it hard for him to thrive in school, social life and, later, work and family. However hard his life was—and it was terribly hard—Jerry should be remembered for his ability to carve out small bits of happiness. Nobody enjoyed a baseball game more than he or a trip to the zoo. The pleasures of a visit from a relative could linger for months. While he was not able to be an active father to his four children, Danielle Hollum, Jerry and Chris Catino and Holly Keohane, he loved them deeply and delighted in every bit of news about them. He felt similarly about his sister, Judy Kelleher, and his brothers, Jack and Joel Davidson and Dean Largesse, Jr. He also thrilled at visits from his nieces and nephews, particularly Kara Mahunik.

Jerry’s life was profiled in an episode of the public radio program “This American Life,” in which his nephew, Adam Davidson, recorded Jerry’s remarkable habit of writing down every single place he went, every person he talked to, every feeling he had and every baseball score for decades.

His family will gather to remember him at a funeral service at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, June 27, at Miles Funeral Home, 1158 Main St., Holden.

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