Dr. Jerrold Stuart Shuster, Maj. USAF Ret., passed away on July 30, 2025 at the Nathan Adelson Center for Compassionate care in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was 85 years old. He was preceded in death by Ruth Shuster (mother), Sam Shuster (father), Dr. Allen Shuster (brother), Ted Shuster (brother), Ruthie Shuster (sister-in-law), Pearl Simen (aunt), Maribelle Wolfson (aunt), Ron Oseas (friend), and Norbert Padilla (friend). He is survived in life by his wife of 57 years, Sharon K. Shuster, children: Aaron, Marshall, Amy, and Megan; Rachel Smerd (daughter in law), Amanda Key (daughter in law) and Tristram McPherson (son in law) and grandchildren: Maddie, Sam, Finn, Sargent, Eli, and Maya.

Jerry was born in Flint, Michigan on March 30, 1940. Raised in a working class family, his father was a butcher, a grocer, and a first generation immigrant from Lithuania. His mother was an accountant and a second generation immigrant from Odessa. He attended the University of Michigan, where he nearly failed out due to his role as the Prank Master at his fraternity. According to Jerry, the fear of expulsion inspired him to turn around his studies. He graduated with a bachelors of science in electrical engineering in 1962.

Following completion of his undergraduate degree, Jerry entered the officer corps of the U.S. Air Force. He performed temporary detached duty in several countries, including England, Germany, Spain, Greece, Turkey and Japan. He also served in Vietnam. During this overseas duty he invented a mechanism to automate the transfer of data collected by the global weather network to government systems. This mechanism allowed for a more timely delivery of reports on weather conditions in advance of airpilot missions. During his 20 years of service, Jerry got married, parented four children, performed his duties and continued his academic research, completing a Masters Degree as well as a PhD in Electrical Engineering. His dissertation described the design of a synthetic aperture radar system allowing an aircraft to track slow-moving objects on the ground. This technology was developed as JSTARS: Joint Surveillance Targeting Attack Radar Systems, or “Jerry Shuster” TARS. After retiring from the Air Force in 1982, Jerry went to work at Northrup-Grumann, where he was among the lead engineers responsible for designing and developing advanced electronic control measures for the B-2, a kind of stealth technology. After Northrup, Jerry became one of the lead scientists for EG&G. In his professional life after the Service, his colleagues affectionately referred to Jerry as “Dr. J”. While Dr J could “neither confirm nor deny” most of the details of his career, he swore that he never saw any evidence of ExtraTerrestrial life. In explaining his life-long career in the development of weapons systems, he would say: “the best defense is a good offense.”

Jerry met the love of his life, Sharon, during his tour of duty in Oklahoma City in 1967. They had a great first date and he promised to call her thereafter to help her learn how to drive stick shift, but then got caught up in work. When he eventually called back several weeks later, Sharon greeted him with “Jerry who?” He was undeterred and subsequently swept her off her feet, literally by flying her around in a T-34 —doing aerobatics—with his private pilot’s license. They were married one year after the day they met. Aaron was born in 1970 and after spending several more years there, he was stationed in Omaha, Nebraska where Marshall was born in 1973. His service in the Air Force would eventually take him to Dayton, Ohio where Amy was born in 1975, Bedford, Massachusetts, and then Albuquerque, New Mexico where Megan was born in 1982.

Jerry loved outdoor activities for much of his life. He served as a life-guard as a teenager. He took up long distance running while a young officer in the Air Force. He became a certified diver with his wife while they lived in Massachusetts–and also played golf and tennis. When they moved to Albuquerque, NM, he took up off-roading. When they moved to Westminster California, he took up sailing through the Newport Beach Sailing Club–making frequent trips to Catalina Island and a memorable trip from Long Beach to San Francisco. When they moved to Henderson, NV, he took up road biking and training for century rides with Sharon.

Jerry would cry at every sentimental moment, even during TV commercials. When any of his kids fell down, he would beat up the ground. He entertained his friends and family with really long jokes. He taught everyone how to hang a spoon on their nose. He would magically take candy out of the ears of his grandchildren. He listened to The Beach Boys, Joe Cocker, Harry Nilsson, Mama Cass, Tom Lehrer, Jimmy Buffet, Randy Newman, and Paul Simon. His favorite karaoke song was “Wild Thing” by The Troggs. Jerry could fix anything. When anything needed to be fixed, he began by saying “RTFM”. He spent a lot of his weekends fixing his cars, before they had computers. He liked IPAs and would judge a restaurant if there were bubbles coming off the side of his glass. He never turned down a key lime pie or a slice of his Aunt Pearl’s cheesecake. He told his daughter in 2005 that he thought “the Vietnam war was a mistake.” He was raised Jewish, and raised his family the same. He was an avid fan of the Indiana Jones film series and read the Harry Potter series five times. Upon his retirement in 2015, he became a regular football fan–Go Blue!–and planned to study astronomy and ukulele.

Jerry was diagnosed with fronto-temporal lobe disorder (FTD) in 2019, a progressive form of dementia that impacted his speech and executive functioning. He received treatment and support from Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. His wife Sharon took impeccable care of him until his inevitable death. His family is grateful for the support of Lisa Radin and the ever-changing membership of the PPA Support Group. He was cremated by aquamation.

His family will host a celebration of life in April at The Revere Golf Club.

In lieu of flowers, donations in his honor can be made to your local National Public Radio station.

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