Bangor - Jerome Nadelhaft, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Maine, died at the home he shared with his wife of many years early on the morning of April 19, 2024. The cause was complications of Parkinson’s, the neurological condition with which he had lived for decades. Towards the end of his life, Professor Nadelhaft and his family benefited from the services of St. Joseph Hospice and Home Care as well as Visiting Angels. Both agencies offered tangible and intangible support which made those last difficult months meaningful and more than manageable.
Jerome Nadelhaft was born on June 23, 1937, the second son of Sophie and Irving Nadelhaft. He grew up and was educated in New York City, benefiting from an extraordinary free public school system which included the High School of Music and Art and culminated in Queens College of the City University of New York where he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa. With his wife, Ruth, whom he married shortly after their college graduation, Jerome entered graduate school at The University of Wisconsin. He completed his PhD in 1963 in Early American History and began teaching at the University of Maine in 1967. While at the University, he published seminal articles and a deep and penetrating account of the coming of the American Revolution to South Carolina. He was a distinguished teacher and successful administrator who is remembered as well for his governance work and leadership in the origin and development of AFUM, the faculty union. Professor Nadelhaft’s research and publication changed and deepened after his initial involvement with a Maine Humanities Grant which was designed to familiarize police and law enforcement with the changing laws concerning domestic violence in Maine. From his initial immersion into the history of violence again women, especially in the form of wife torture, Professor Nadelhaft went on to research and write several books linking the mistreatment of wives to the temperance movement, feminism, and eventually women’s fight for the ballot. His final works were published not long before Parkinson’s made his computer work almost impossible.
Jerry Nadelhaft was devoted to his family and friends, both here and in New York city. For decades the license plate of their family car (a Subaru) read BGR NYC, testifying to the dual loyalties of both Ruth and Jerry. He is survived, and badly missed, by his wife, Ruth, his daughter, Erica, his son, Matthew and daughter-in-law Kristi, as well as by his beloved granddaughters, Sophie, Emma, and Lily, along with their husbands, partners, and his great grandchildren. He is missed as well by his sister-in-law, Dina, the widow of his beloved brother, Arthur, and by his brother-in-law, Bill Levy, who would like this obituary to include mention of Jerry’s teaching prowess as he taught the young Billy to ride a two-wheeler. Jerry’s kindness was immeasurable and his teaching unforgettable.
Family and friends will be invited to a memorial and celebration around the time of Jerry’s birthday, June 23, at the Nadelhafts’ Bangor home.
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Jerome Nadelhaft was born on June 23, 1937, the second son of Sophie and Irving Nadelhaft. He grew up and was educated in New York City, benefiting from an extraordinary free public school system which included the High School of Music and Art and culminated in Queens College of the City University of New York where he was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa. With his wife, Ruth, whom he married shortly after their college graduation, Jerome entered graduate school at The University of Wisconsin. He completed his PhD in 1963 in Early American History and began teaching at the University of Maine in 1967. While at the University, he published seminal articles and a deep and penetrating account of the coming of the American Revolution to South Carolina. He was a distinguished teacher and successful administrator who is remembered as well for his governance work and leadership in the origin and development of AFUM, the faculty union. Professor Nadelhaft’s research and publication changed and deepened after his initial involvement with a Maine Humanities Grant which was designed to familiarize police and law enforcement with the changing laws concerning domestic violence in Maine. From his initial immersion into the history of violence again women, especially in the form of wife torture, Professor Nadelhaft went on to research and write several books linking the mistreatment of wives to the temperance movement, feminism, and eventually women’s fight for the ballot. His final works were published not long before Parkinson’s made his computer work almost impossible.
Jerry Nadelhaft was devoted to his family and friends, both here and in New York city. For decades the license plate of their family car (a Subaru) read BGR NYC, testifying to the dual loyalties of both Ruth and Jerry. He is survived, and badly missed, by his wife, Ruth, his daughter, Erica, his son, Matthew and daughter-in-law Kristi, as well as by his beloved granddaughters, Sophie, Emma, and Lily, along with their husbands, partners, and his great grandchildren. He is missed as well by his sister-in-law, Dina, the widow of his beloved brother, Arthur, and by his brother-in-law, Bill Levy, who would like this obituary to include mention of Jerry’s teaching prowess as he taught the young Billy to ride a two-wheeler. Jerry’s kindness was immeasurable and his teaching unforgettable.
Family and friends will be invited to a memorial and celebration around the time of Jerry’s birthday, June 23, at the Nadelhafts’ Bangor home.
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