Such a crazy , likable character. Visited me in Arizona and Atlanta , always with unbelievable stories about his exploits . Hard to believe some one with so much energy is gone...
I was good friends with Kerry at Shaker and remained so after high school. I later lost touch with him but we became reacquainted for a short time when he called out of the blue, came to visit my NYC apartment and thought about moving to New York. That was somewhere in the 80''s. We then lost touch again but what I remember most is that he was a wild free spirit with stories that could make your hair stand on end, leaving you scratching your head. Most wound up being true and were worthy of a motion picture. The call of adventure was in his blood and my vivid memories of this colorful character will last forever. R.I.P. my friend.
Kerry & I hung out together. Driving around in his dad’s British, racing green, MG. We’d go out Fri & Sat nights to different Dance clubs like The 221 Club bowling ally on Chagrin, The Riviera Swim Club & Boston Mills. Our first skiing experience was at Boston Mills. Kerry went on to become an accomplished competitive skier competing in exotic places like the Andes.
After graduation he went east. Whenever he came back home we’d get together. He turned me on to The Moody Blues & E L O. I introduced him to Steppenwolf & Creedence Clearwater Revival. We both got involved with the Martial Arts and on summer breaks, enjoyed tossing each other around on the beach at Mentor Headlands. After graduation Kerry, eventually, headed west. First to California, then to Ketchum Idaho I never saw him again but I’d get phone calls from him at all hours of the day. He told me he lived near Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Chalet in Sun Valley with 1,700 ft. mountains in his back yard.
Kerry’s younger sister Pam preceded him and also died of cancer.
I agree with Karen, Joel & Richard. If half of what Kerry said was true, he was “Too fast to live, too young to die, bye-bye”
Born, Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jan. 3, 1947. Died Aug. 17, 2008 in Twin Falls, Idaho from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Kerry graduated from Shaker Heights High School and Boston University. Upon graduation from college, Kerry went to work in his father's ad agency and produced the first TV Silent Movie Festival. Kerry later worked in money management for some of the top Wall Street houses in Los Angeles and San Francisco before setting out on his own as a managed account trader.
Kerry was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying alpine and Nordic skiing, hiking and snowshoeing in Sun Valley, and loved surfing in California and Hawai'i as often as he could. In 1972, he ranked in the top 25 in the US in free-style skiing, racing against such stalwarts as Wayne Wong and Suzy Chaffee. Kerry was one of the few who still skied on thin skis with his knees locked together in perfect Stein Eriksen form. He moved to Ketchum in 2000 and rarely left. He is survived by Mary Ann Davidson of Ketchum, Idaho and the Davidson family, his parents Edgar and Sheila Spizel of La Jolla, California, and ten nieces and nephews. His sister, Pamela Spizel Ripp, preceded him in death at age 54.
Rabbi Barnett Brickner of the Wood River Jewish Community in Ketchum will conduct a memorial service for Kerry. Rabbi Brickner's grandfather confirmed Kerry and his sister, Pamela, as well as Kerry's aunt, Hilda and father, Edgar, at Euclid Avenue Temple in Cleveland, Ohio. Memorial services will be at 11 A.M., Thursday, August 28th at St. Thomas Church on Sun Valley Road in Ketchum, Idaho, with burial at Ketchum Cemetery to follow.
Thanks for posting the information/obit on Kerry. Many times we read that one of our classmates is gone but we don't know the how or why and it seems like bad form to ask. I confess I was one of the sceptics who wasn't sure whether to believe all Kerry's claims but they appear to be legit. Thanks.
Karen Linden (Desberg)
Kerry was my first "kiss." It happened at Lomond Elementary, on Valentine's Day in the third grade. Rest in peace Kerry.
Joel Marcus (Marcus)
Such a crazy , likable character. Visited me in Arizona and Atlanta , always with unbelievable stories about his exploits . Hard to believe some one with so much energy is gone...
Richard Brezner
I was good friends with Kerry at Shaker and remained so after high school. I later lost touch with him but we became reacquainted for a short time when he called out of the blue, came to visit my NYC apartment and thought about moving to New York. That was somewhere in the 80''s. We then lost touch again but what I remember most is that he was a wild free spirit with stories that could make your hair stand on end, leaving you scratching your head. Most wound up being true and were worthy of a motion picture. The call of adventure was in his blood and my vivid memories of this colorful character will last forever. R.I.P. my friend.
Russell Garron
Kerry & I hung out together. Driving around in his dad’s British, racing green, MG. We’d go out Fri & Sat nights to different Dance clubs like The 221 Club bowling ally on Chagrin, The Riviera Swim Club & Boston Mills. Our first skiing experience was at Boston Mills. Kerry went on to become an accomplished competitive skier competing in exotic places like the Andes.
After graduation he went east. Whenever he came back home we’d get together. He turned me on to The Moody Blues & E L O. I introduced him to Steppenwolf & Creedence Clearwater Revival. We both got involved with the Martial Arts and on summer breaks, enjoyed tossing each other around on the beach at Mentor Headlands. After graduation Kerry, eventually, headed west. First to California, then to Ketchum Idaho I never saw him again but I’d get phone calls from him at all hours of the day. He told me he lived near Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Chalet in Sun Valley with 1,700 ft. mountains in his back yard.
Kerry’s younger sister Pam preceded him and also died of cancer.
I agree with Karen, Joel & Richard. If half of what Kerry said was true, he was “Too fast to live, too young to die, bye-bye”
David Brown
Kerry Spizel
Born, Shaker Heights, Ohio, Jan. 3, 1947. Died Aug. 17, 2008 in Twin Falls, Idaho from chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Kerry graduated from Shaker Heights High School and Boston University. Upon graduation from college, Kerry went to work in his father's ad agency and produced the first TV Silent Movie Festival. Kerry later worked in money management for some of the top Wall Street houses in Los Angeles and San Francisco before setting out on his own as a managed account trader.
Kerry was an avid outdoorsman, enjoying alpine and Nordic skiing, hiking and snowshoeing in Sun Valley, and loved surfing in California and Hawai'i as often as he could. In 1972, he ranked in the top 25 in the US in free-style skiing, racing against such stalwarts as Wayne Wong and Suzy Chaffee. Kerry was one of the few who still skied on thin skis with his knees locked together in perfect Stein Eriksen form. He moved to Ketchum in 2000 and rarely left. He is survived by Mary Ann Davidson of Ketchum, Idaho and the Davidson family, his parents Edgar and Sheila Spizel of La Jolla, California, and ten nieces and nephews. His sister, Pamela Spizel Ripp, preceded him in death at age 54.
Rabbi Barnett Brickner of the Wood River Jewish Community in Ketchum will conduct a memorial service for Kerry. Rabbi Brickner's grandfather confirmed Kerry and his sister, Pamela, as well as Kerry's aunt, Hilda and father, Edgar, at Euclid Avenue Temple in Cleveland, Ohio. Memorial services will be at 11 A.M., Thursday, August 28th at St. Thomas Church on Sun Valley Road in Ketchum, Idaho, with burial at Ketchum Cemetery to follow.
Roger Bamberger
David;
Thanks for posting the information/obit on Kerry. Many times we read that one of our classmates is gone but we don't know the how or why and it seems like bad form to ask. I confess I was one of the sceptics who wasn't sure whether to believe all Kerry's claims but they appear to be legit. Thanks.
Roger Bamberger