If you were part of the Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce or Rotary Club Downtown Bethlehem, you may remember me.

If you ever bought a vehicle from Scott Dealerships or worked at Bethlehem Steel, you may remember me.

If you played Hellertown sports or were in St Theresa’s congregation, you may remember me.

My name is Gerry Long and I lived for 93 years. 93 ... can you believe it?

I was the youngest of 8 kids, born on mom and dads small farm on the edge of Hellertown. My first memory, 5 years old, is my Dad giving me my first baseball bat, a tremendous gift when modestly raised in a big family. The Philadelphia A’s and the Philadelphia Eagles became my escape. After Hellertown HS, I joined the Army and served in the Korean War. Upon my return, I went to Bethlehem Business school and met my best friend for life, Jimmy Raynock. I married Maryann and raised three children, Gerald, Joseph and Elizabeth. During that time, I continued my education and graduated from East Stroudsburg University.

Sports continued to run in my blood. I loved coaching sports. Hellertown Little League and CYO baseball, football and basketball too. Oh, and I picked up golf and umpired too!

I was an active member of the Hellertown Town Council and Founding Director of the Saucon Valley Community Center, which is in existence today. St. Theresa’s parish meant a lot to me. I was an active Lector, choir member, bingo caller and even played Jesus in the church’s annual reading of the Passion. I enjoyed singing and sang at many weddings, possibly yours!

I remarried to Jill in 1980 and raised two more kids, Doug and Karen. I found that beyond work at the Steel or at Scott Dealerships I had a further calling for community service. Knights of Columbus, Lions, Kiwanis, then hit my stride with Bethlehem Rotary. For the next 30+ years I helped raise funds for our community with Rotary. You may remember attending Taste and Tunes at Hotel Bethlehem, which raised funds for the Hispanic Center, the VA, Victory House, and Boys and Girls Club. I became the Rotary District Governor and was responsible for 49 clubs. During that time, I orchestrated a TV auction for a Rotary Rotoplast mission, which made it possible for doctors and nurses to participate in a cleft pallet trip to Pereira, South America. I even managed to squeeze in a few rounds of golf at Silver Creek Country Club.

The Phillies and Eagles never had a bigger fan. Through the years I befriended owners and managers from both teams and had the pleasure to meet hundreds of my favorite athletes. From a one-room school house to the skybox, what an honor!

My time came to an end and I leave behind 5 children, 9 grandchildren and my love, Jill. So if you by chance run into them in the Lehigh Valley, please let them know that you remember me.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Bethlehem Rotary Club.

Pearson Funeral Home handled my arrangements.