LIVING IN THE MOMENT | YSU community remembers professor Michael Jerryson
YOUNGSTOWN — When people describe Michael Jerryson as someone who "lived in the moment," they mean it.
The Youngstown State University professor and expert on religion and violence didn't own a cellphone, said his colleague and friend YSU professor Diana Palardy.
"He was a person who lived in the present," she said. "This is one of the things students always said: He made you feel like the most important person in the room. ... He really lived in the moment and had a wonderful, warm, caring smile."
Jerryson died July 9 of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, at age 47.
Toward the end of his illness, Jerryson was unable to move or speak and communicated through a program that tracks eye movement to turn words into speech.
"That was the closest he probably came to texting," Palardy said, laughing. "It was kind of neat to be able to connect."
Based on his students, connecting came naturally to Jerryson.
Lindsay Heldreth, a 2018 graduate of YSU, first took a class with Jerryson "on a whim" in 2015.
At the time, she said she had been struggling with mental health issues and an eating disorder.
"I was running myself ragged. I was involved in way too many things," she said. "I remember one day in passing I mentioned I hadn't been eating particularly well, and he started bringing me meals to class."
She ended up taking about five classes with Jerryson and befriended him and his family.
"I was at his family's house for every Thanksgiving, which was wonderful," she said. "I got to know his beautiful and amazing family. I absolutely adore his kids and his wife."
Jerryson leaves behind his wife, Fawn, and two children, Parker and Sienna.
When Heldreth doubted her longtime goal of getting a doctorate degree, Jerryson talked her through the decision and helped with graduate school applications. She's now getting her doctorate in sociology at Notre Dame University.
In addition to his poignant mentorship, Jerryson also shared with YSU and the world his prolific scholarship.
Jerryson edited or wrote nine books that can be seen on his website.
In June 2018, Jerryson testified on human rights concerns in Sri Lanka before the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations.
For moments like this, Palardy recalls him as an impressive colleague, but many of her memories are simply fun, like when she would sing karaoke with him at the Thirsty Frog Bar & Grill in Austintown.
"He was just 'Mike' there. He wasn't 'professor Jerryson.' He was one of the other people just hanging out. It was a fun atmosphere where everybody could kick back, and it didn't matter if I didn't know how to sing," she said.
The YSU community is planning a memorial for Jerryson in September.
This story was originally published July 23, 2021 at 4:00 AM with the headline "LIVING IN THE MOMENT | YSU community remembers professor Michael Jerryson."