A great football player and friend. Jeff had a very outgoing and warm personality. We were playing Moody Blues records at my home on Lakewood Avenue just weeks before the accident. I miss you buddy, rest in peace.
Whenever I hear the early 60's music like the Righteous Bros. and Bobby Vinton, I think of Jeffrey (always called him that) and dancing with him at the Oneida dances (same with John DiLallo). Jeffrey was quiet and seemed somewhat shy socially around girls, but he never hesitated to ask for a dance. He was always respectful and friendly with a warm smile. It is always sad to me that he and John passed away so young. Years later I introduced myself to Jeffrey's younger sister with whom I had the privilege of interacting with through the work we do. She was just a small tyke when I knew Jeffrey. I was glad to be able to share my memories of him with her. I will always remember him fondly.
I, too, remember Jeff as well as his father, Dr. Ernest Cerasano, who was a prominent surgeon. Dr. Cerasano sutured my right palm, which I cut in an accident. I still have a faint scar. I remember very vividly watching Dr. Cerasano remove the stitches and then becoming faint and needing smelling salts to revive me. I learned a lesson from that incident more than 50 years ago. I've never again watched a health care professional insert any medical instrument such as a needle or remove anything like sutures from my body.
Then, only three months after his wife's death, Dr. Cerasano died of an apparent heart attack, which he suffered in his office on Apr. 3. He was just 52 years old. Here is a link to his obituary in the Gazette:
It's hard to imagine the horror and pain of so many losses so quickly and so unexpectedly in one family. The Cerasano family, though, touched our lives, and those memories have endured for half a century.
i went to Alfred with Jeff and had a beer with him at the pub on campus within hours before his accident. I will never forget waking up to hearing about his death on the radio. .
Stan...never knew you were the "last to see" Jeff before that tragic ride. So many tell stories of being "the last"; often with guilt. My own version was patient (happended to be a 1949er who survived two tours of Vietnam) leaving my office after his appopintment and going home and blowing his brains out. Finding your wife in you bed with her boss will do that too you (though I would have been more inclined to shoot them).... but for the longest time I wished I had kept him in my chair just a little longer.
I became friends with Jeff at Oneida but we got much closer though football at LHS. Jeff was a tough as nails defensive tackle who "left it on the field". An admirable quality to play 110% but also that he left that intense aggreesive part on the field and was a sensitive caring friend off the field. Jeff was also our kicker...chuckle chuckle.
For a bit of levity regarding Jeff....
Jeff, Bob Garnt and I took a road trip to Lake George...wasn't it wonderful that the NY drinking age was 18 (which we all remember means we could get served at 16 even with the flimiest of IDs...if any at all) The ride home on the Northway involved mooning other motorists ...where "everthing is fine until someone gets an eye poked out" ... or you pass a car full of nuns....Jeff was mortified and as a good Catholic thought sure he was destined to burn in hell for it. We talked him "down off the ledge" of confession at the time. Never know if he ever did spill later and pay pennance for that "awful transgression".
Jeff and several others via Vietnam war left us early. Illness and accidents have been a slow trickle over the decades but recently the pace seems to have quickened. Hang in there everyone...I want to see you at our 50th and reminisce live and in person.
Garry Adair
Died in a car crash returning to Schenectady from Alfred University...1968 ? Was a great teammate and friend. A tragic loss.
John Lewis
A great football player and friend. Jeff had a very outgoing and warm personality. We were playing Moody Blues records at my home on Lakewood Avenue just weeks before the accident. I miss you buddy, rest in peace.
David Biren
I remember Jeff a good friend and a fine person. I wasn't aware of his passing until months later. I think of hime often, and what might have been
Laraine Pacelli (Desmond)
Whenever I hear the early 60's music like the Righteous Bros. and Bobby Vinton, I think of Jeffrey (always called him that) and dancing with him at the Oneida dances (same with John DiLallo). Jeffrey was quiet and seemed somewhat shy socially around girls, but he never hesitated to ask for a dance. He was always respectful and friendly with a warm smile. It is always sad to me that he and John passed away so young. Years later I introduced myself to Jeffrey's younger sister with whom I had the privilege of interacting with through the work we do. She was just a small tyke when I knew Jeffrey. I was glad to be able to share my memories of him with her. I will always remember him fondly.
Chester Pach
I, too, remember Jeff as well as his father, Dr. Ernest Cerasano, who was a prominent surgeon. Dr. Cerasano sutured my right palm, which I cut in an accident. I still have a faint scar. I remember very vividly watching Dr. Cerasano remove the stitches and then becoming faint and needing smelling salts to revive me. I learned a lesson from that incident more than 50 years ago. I've never again watched a health care professional insert any medical instrument such as a needle or remove anything like sutures from my body.
I was shocked by Jeff's death, which occurred in an automobile accident when he was driving home from Alfred University on Oct. 2, 1969. Here is a link to the death notice, which appeared two days later in the Schenectady Gazette: https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tWZGAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1-gMAAAAIBAJ&pg=722%2C993984.
Jeff's death was the first of a series of tragedies for the Cerasano family. Jeff's mother, Beth Stubblebine Cerasano, died only 15 months later on Jan. 5, 1971, after what was described as "a brief illness." She was just 46 years old. Here is a link to her obituary in the Gazette: http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%208/Schenectady%20NY%20Gazette/Schenectady%20NY%20Gazette%201971%20Grayscale/Schenectady%20NY%20Gazette%201971%20Grayscale%20-%200210.pdf
Then, only three months after his wife's death, Dr. Cerasano died of an apparent heart attack, which he suffered in his office on Apr. 3. He was just 52 years old. Here is a link to his obituary in the Gazette:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=GG4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=C4oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3809%2C1123129
It's hard to imagine the horror and pain of so many losses so quickly and so unexpectedly in one family. The Cerasano family, though, touched our lives, and those memories have endured for half a century.
Stanley Schneider
i went to Alfred with Jeff and had a beer with him at the pub on campus within hours before his accident. I will never forget waking up to hearing about his death on the radio. .
Garry Adair
Stan...never knew you were the "last to see" Jeff before that tragic ride. So many tell stories of being "the last"; often with guilt. My own version was patient (happended to be a 1949er who survived two tours of Vietnam) leaving my office after his appopintment and going home and blowing his brains out. Finding your wife in you bed with her boss will do that too you (though I would have been more inclined to shoot them).... but for the longest time I wished I had kept him in my chair just a little longer.
I became friends with Jeff at Oneida but we got much closer though football at LHS. Jeff was a tough as nails defensive tackle who "left it on the field". An admirable quality to play 110% but also that he left that intense aggreesive part on the field and was a sensitive caring friend off the field. Jeff was also our kicker...chuckle chuckle.
For a bit of levity regarding Jeff....
Jeff, Bob Garnt and I took a road trip to Lake George...wasn't it wonderful that the NY drinking age was 18 (which we all remember means we could get served at 16 even with the flimiest of IDs...if any at all) The ride home on the Northway involved mooning other motorists ...where "everthing is fine until someone gets an eye poked out" ... or you pass a car full of nuns....Jeff was mortified and as a good Catholic thought sure he was destined to burn in hell for it. We talked him "down off the ledge" of confession at the time. Never know if he ever did spill later and pay pennance for that "awful transgression".
Jeff and several others via Vietnam war left us early. Illness and accidents have been a slow trickle over the decades but recently the pace seems to have quickened. Hang in there everyone...I want to see you at our 50th and reminisce live and in person.