Gerald (Jerry) Koermer

Gerald (Jerry) Koermer, of Chapel Hill, NC, research scientist, husband, father, brother, uncle, cousin and good friend passed away on January 16, 2026, after a long fight with pulmonary fibrosis.

Jerry was born in Orange, NJ to Otto George and Barbara Koermer now deceased. He is survived by his wife Ann, son Scott Koermer of Salt Lake City, UT, and sister-in-law Mary Ellen of Tyrone, GA, nieces Carolyn Proffitt of Newnan GA, and Jennifer Renfroe of Florida as well as numerous cousins and friends.

Jerry earned a B.A. in chemistry with honors from Rutgers College, New Brunswick, NJ, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was awarded a Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. This was followed by a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla.

During a 40-year career, Jerry worked at various positions for Celanese Chemical Company, Unilever, Engelhard Corporation, and BASF specializing mostly in catalysis, materials science, and inorganic chemistry. He retired in 2014 with over 100 US and foreign patents. He had over 40 publications in the scientific literature and many presentations at scientific meetings. Jerry was a long-time member of the American Chemical Society, North American Catalysis Society, and International Zeolite Association. In 2010 Jerry received the Thomas Alva Edison Patent award from the State of NJ for US Patent 7,601,622 for a material for removing nitrogen oxide emissions from diesel trucks.

Jerry liked travel, adventure, food and drink and meeting people. Jerry and Ann enjoyed traveling to the Grand Canyon, the Caribbean, Tuscany Italy, New Zealand, and Australia in retirement. He was a long-time member of the American Wine Society and the Chaine des Rotisseurs as well as the Governors Club Wine Society. Jerry also was a member of the YMCA for over 60 years and enjoyed exercise, working out, and tennis.

Jerry loved college sports, particularly football and basketball. He liked animals and over the years was the owner of three cats: Chico (Abyssinian), Tony (Bengal), and Rex (Bengal).

Jerry was also a member of St. Thomas More Church in Chapel Hill. He was a member of the St. Michael’s Ministry for several years.

Jerry was a fan of lifelong learning and taught himself to create electronic maps for the Governors Club POA. Jerry created interactive electronic maps for every street light, sign and fire hydrant at Governors Club.

Jerry collected Native American art including pottery, jewelry, and paintings. Jerry and Ann (and Scott) frequently went to the SWIA Indian Market at the end of August in Santa Fe.

The highlight of Jerry’s life was his son Scott. Scott was a joy as a child and Jerry enjoyed the baseball, soccer, hockey, archery, golf lessons, BMW driving school and woodworking that Scott pursued. Jerry loved taking the family to the beach at Spring Lake, NJ. He and Scott would engage in foot races on the beach until Scott could beat him easily. Jerry always remembered visiting colleges with Scott. When Scott was in high school, Jerry arranged for Scott to spend time in Germany (Heidelberg) with a BASF family as an exchange student. Scott was an Eagle Scout and excelled academically, earning a BS, MS, and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech in engineering.