Gerald H. Lessuk February 24, 2023
Gerald H. (“Gerry”) Lessuk passed away on February 24, 2023, in Stamford, Connecticut. Gerry moved to the Greenwich area in 2008 to be near his daughter after spending nearly half his life in Glen Ellyn, a small suburb of Chicago, raising a family with his wife, Santina (Bagalini) Lessuk.
Gerry passed just shy of his 97th birthday, born April 14, 1926, in Manhattan, New York, the middle child of Samuel and Ida Lessuk. He is survived by his daughter Nancy Armstrong of Riverside, Connecticut, and his son Jonathan Lessuk of Los Angeles, California; his sister Florence Lessuk of Greenwich, Connecticut; and his four grandchildren: Jack Armstrong, Hope Armstrong, Summer Armstrong, and Jonah Lessuk.
Gerry grew up in Coney Island, a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. As a teenager he was employed by New York City as a lifeguard on the beaches of Coney Island. Upon graduating High School, Gerry was drafted into the United States Army and served in the Pacific theatre in the U.S. Army Infantry and in the Adjutant Generals’ Department. He was stationed on the island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands and in the Japanese Ryukyu Islands on Le Shima and Okinawa. After separation from the Armed Forces, he enrolled in George Washington University in Washington, D.C., receiving an Associate of Arts degree in 1948. He subsequently enrolled in the George Washington University Law School, receiving his Juris Doctor degree in 1951. He was admitted to the District of Columbia and New York State Bar Associations in 1951 and 1953, respectively, and was licensed to practice law in those jurisdictions. Gerry practiced law for several years in New York City, specializing in Labor and Employment.
He met his late wife, Santina (Tina) Bagalini, in Manhattan and they married there in 1960. Shortly thereafter, they relocated to the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois when Gerry went to work for the Brunswick Corporation at its headquarters in Skokie, Illinois. Brunswick, a large Fortune 500 recreational and industrial product conglomerate, is the world’s leader in recreational boats, marine engines and marine parts and accessories, and is one of the longest continually publiclytraded companies on the New York Stock Exchange. At Brunswick, Gerry served as Director of Corporate Labor-Management relations and Collective Bargaining activities, retiring in 1995. For several years after his retirement from Brunswick, Gerry continued to practice his profession, serving as a private consultant in LaborManagement Relations.
Gerry and Tina raised their two children in Glen Ellyn, a small suburb west of Chicago. Their son, Jonathan, was born in 1963, married Antoinette (Waller) and lives in Los Angeles, California. Their daughter, Nancy, was born in 1966, married Tim Armstrong, and lives in Riverside, Connecticut. After his wife died in 2008, Gerry moved to Connecticut to reside near his daughter, Nancy, and became active in the Greenwich Retired Men’s Association (“RMA”). In his retirement, he chaired the RMA’s Special Events Program, volunteered as a driver for Call-A-Ride, served on the Board of Directors of Old Greenwich Gables’ Common Ownership Community, and continued to cultivate his lifelong interests in golf, physical fitness, classical music and opera.
A funeral service will be held at Fred D. Knapp & Son Funeral Home on Friday, March 3rd at 9:30 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Gerry’s name to the MPNresearchfoundation.org. The MPN Research Foundation funds research in pursuit of new treatments – and eventually a cure for myelofibrosis, a chronic blood cancer, and a manifestation of that disease, thrombocytopenia. Both of these conditions afflicted Gerry in his later years.