C. H. Coster Gerard, an independent oil & gas producer and land conservationist, died at his home in Vernon, New Jersey, on Monday, January 30. He was 92 years old.
Born on March 20, 1919, in Manhattan, he was the son of the late Sumner Gerard and Helen (Coster) Gerard Train.
Mr . Gerard was a graduate of Yale University. He interrupted his Yale career to volunteer for service in the United States Navy in World War II. He retired after the war as a Lieutenant-Commander having seen most of his action in the Pacific theater.
Mr. Gerard was awarded the Hearst Energy Award in 1997 for achievement and innovation as part of a small team of independent petroleum executives and engineers who pioneered in the use of carbon dioxide injection to recover otherwise unrecoverable oil reserves from old oil fields. He lived for some years and maintained his oil and gas headquarters in Shreveport, Louisiana, before residing again in Manhattan and then Vernon.
Mr. Gerard worked tirelessly in his later years to preserve open space and farming in New Jersey, and on related civic issues in Vernon Township. He was an early advocate of the use of development easements to preserve open land including his family’s Meadowburn Farm in Vernon. Earlier, as owners of Aeon Realty Company of New York City, Mr. Gerard and his brothers preserved the 2100-acre Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island, New York, by conveying it to The Nature Conservancy.
Mr. Gerard is survived by his wife of 54 years, Alison Daly Gerard, of Vernon; his children: Charles H.C. Gerard, Jr., of Shreveport, LA, Alison Gerard Potter and her husband Alan, Daniel B. Gerard and his wife Olivia of New York, NY, Christopher C. Gerard and his wife Laurie of Summit, NJ, and Emily M. Gerard of Seattle, WA; ten grandchildren: Philip Potter, Michael Loughran Potter, Alan Potter, Jr., Helen Potter, Claire Potter, Daniel P.G. Gerard, Beatrice Gerard, William Gerard, Charles N. Gerard and John Gerard; one great-grandchild: Hazel Potter; a half-brother, the Hon. John Train of Manhattan; a first cousin Alexander Salm of Tuxedo, NY; and many beloved in-laws, nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his brothers, Brig. Gen. James W. Gerard and the Hon. Sumner Gerard.
Visitation will be at 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., Friday, February 3, prior to the funeral, at Meadowburn Farm, 41 Meadowburn Road, Vernon NJ 07462. Funeral Mass will be at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, February 3 at St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 307 Route 94, Vernon NJ, followed by interment in Warwick Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 307 Route 94, Vernon NJ 07462.