Obituary of Gerard Pallante

In memory of Gerard Paul Pallante, who died peacefully on Sunday, January 28, 2024.  Jerry was born on October 10, 1929 in Newark, NJ to the late Frank and Filomena Pallante.  One of eight children and the youngest son in a large Italian family, he was a devout Catholic. In 1967 Jerry received the Pius X Award of Honor from the Archbishop of Newark for 10 years of service educating children in the Newark Public School System in Christian Doctrine.

Jerry graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology with a degree in Chemical Engineering and was the Plant Manager at Tenaco Chemical for 12 years.  In 1974 Jerry joined the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Water as an Environmental Engineer where he was originally hired to work on the new State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System. In 1992 his focus changed to the Division of Air Resources where he reviewed air toxic permits, performed pollution control investigations, utilized computer air modeling for hazardous pollutants compliance and drafted guidance documents for air control technologies.  When he retired, Jerry became an independent air toxic pollutant consultant.

He was the devoted husband of Kathleen Pallante for 28 years before she passed in 1996. Jerry first saw Kathy at the Spring Dance and figured she was out of his league but impressed her with his swing dancing, twist, and jitterbug. Kathy, the love of his life, supported him though many hobbies and business endeavors. Jerry was proud of his Italian heritage, tracing back to Caposele, Italy where his relatives passed down the tradition of wine making. The process began in his basement, expanded to Indian Ladder Farms for a brief time and in the summer of 1986, Jerry proudly opened Albany’s first winery. Pallante & Son Wine Cellars produced 15 varieties of wine made with New York grapes from the Finger Lakes Region. A small business entrepreneur, Jerry also owned an industrial plant that produced textile dyes in Belleville, NJ and Troy Memorial Adult Home in Troy, NY.  Jerry was very involved in the community, sharing his knowledge of wine making through lectures, classes and wine tastings. Jerry loved traveling to new places with family and friends but spent many summers close to home at the Jersey Shore. He was a life-long golfer and took pleasure in teaching his nieces and nephews the game of golf.  He rarely missed a league night and enjoyed many rounds at Normanside Country Club followed by a banana split at Toll Gate or Stewarts. Jerry took great pleasure in watching, and sometimes coaching, his children in baseball, golf, soccer and softball. He practiced the values that he taught to others, including forgiveness, humility and generosity. He was particularly proud of his granddaughter Kathleen who chose to study Environmental Science and his grandson Evan who excels at playing the piano.

He is survived by two sisters, his children Frank Pallante (Jennifer) and Maryann McCarthy; and his grandchildren Kathleen McCarthy and Evan Pallante.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kathleen Pallante Scholarship Fund at St. Thomas the Apostle School, 35 Adams Place, Delmar, NY 12054.

Private services will be held.