Share
Let the family know you care by sharing this tribute.
Earle H. Terwilliger (Earle Jerris, “EJ”), 93, recently of Huntersville, NC and previously the Rochester, NY area, passed away peacefully on Thursday, March 3, 2022. In addition to his parents, Earle was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 56 years, Violet (Vi) M. Terwilliger, and his brother, Robert F. Terwilliger.
Earle is survived by his children, Jeffrey E. Terwilliger and wife Charlotte of Raleigh, NC and Lynn Terwilliger Northrup and husband Peter of Charlotte, NC; step-granddaughter Kristen Northrup Dormsjo and family of Mt. Holly, NC; extended family originating in the Hudson Valley of NY; and close friends and musicians with whom he has collaborated over the years.
Earle’s life was rich with his lifelong love for music. A Juilliard student, Earle Jerris, as he was known professionally, was a pianist, composer, and arranger. In his early career he wrote for orchestras and ensembles, gigged in clubs and on radio, and was musical director for his U.S. Army regiment. Later he toured the country as pianist and emcee with the Charlie Spivak Big Band and eventually directed and appeared on his own TV and radio shows. Earle was well known in the Rochester area for opening its first commercial recording facility, Jerris Productions Inc., which produced regional and national advertising, jingles, and scores. He and his “Little Big Band” played concerts in Rochester. Earle entered an active music scene in Huntersville, working with the Lake Norman Big Band and other regional musicians and singers, after arriving there in 2013.
A Celebration of Music honoring Earle’s life will be held at a later date in NC.
The family wishes to thank Hospice & Palliative Care of Lake Norman, especially nurse Cathy Simonson; and Cadence Assisted Living of Huntersville for their compassionate care.
Donations in Earle’s name may be made to ROCmusic at either www.rocmusic.org
or to: Eastman School of Music, ROCmusic fund, Office of Advancement, 26 Gibbs St., Rochester, NY 14604. This is a collaborative effort to provide tuition-free music instruction to Rochester’s youth.
Carolina Cremation of Charlotte and Salisbury is assisting the Terwilliger family. Online condolences may be made at www.carolinacremation.com.
Maria Wilkinson says
Dear Jeff, Lynn and families:
I have you in my thoughts and prayers as I recall the beautiful moments spent with your Dad. He became one of the best friends I have ever had in my life.
Bob Terwilliger says
You will be missed Uncle Earle by all of your Terwilliger Family from Woodstock, NY. We will hold on to all the good times we had with family get togethers, Cape Cod and of course the times we got to hear you play piano! The BEST we ever heard! RIP, we love you and will hold you in our hearts always! Please give our best to our Dad, Aunt Vi, Grandpa and Nana T in heaven too!
Jeff and Lynn our hearts and prayers are with you too. Please do call on us anytime!
Love,
Mom T (Lillian), Bob, Wayne, Greg, Sue, Julie and families
CMalz says
Earle was such a mentor to me!
So glad to be able to swing with him through all his encore years, he is greatly loved and will be even more greatly missed!
“The music in my heart I bore, long after it was heard no more..”
~Wordsworth
Shawn Ervin says
It was my extreme pleasure to know Earl since he moved to NC. Aside from his tremendous musical abilities, he was a kind man and always encouraged me. I enjoyed playing music with him in his home. My prayers are with the family.
Kowalski Lynne says
So sorry for your loss. Had no idea how local to us he was. We lived in Denver,NC for a short while in 2016 as and 2017. Huntersville was quite close. Then his long early connection in Rochester. Very accomplished musian and long life. You have a great legacy to feel proud of.
John Beck says
Earl was a great friend and we made good music together. He will be missed but never forgotten. John Beck
Bob says
I was not a big customer of Earle’s recording studio but he
did help us out several times. One evening we recorded almost
50 commercials for airing on WEZO in Rochester. The voice talents were Steve Sammons and Jack Wheeler. Earle helped pull it off. I would see
him now and again. Here was a good guy.
By the way, I didn’t know he had a real name. Everyone in the ad biz
I knew called him Jerris. If there is a story there, I’d love to hear it.
Best wishes to Earle’s family. Rest assured he was loved.
Bob Swinehart
John Andres says
I remember hearing Earle Jerris (E.J.) on 1280/WROC-AM Radio from 1964 to 1972. He hosted the morning show. (6am-10am) Monday-Saturday. The format was instrumental music with a few vocals. It was best described as MOR (Middle of the Road) or perhaps “elevator music” in a good way. Earle played piano at times up to NBC News on the hour or for Local News at the bottom of the hour. Morning Local news anchor was Tom Ryan, who also filled in for WROC-TV’s Tom Decker. Tom Ryan also had to do the 5 minute 7:25 and 8:25 News on WROC-TV (Channel 8).
Earle would play piano on his show to give Tom Ryan enough time to run down the hall from TV to radio in order to deliver the news.
Earle also had a brief radio program on 1180/WHAM-AM (Rochester, N.Y.) from 1-3PM during the early 1960’s.
Earle had a wonderful voice and when he arrived at WROC/1280, he replaced a morning host by the name of Dick Waffles! (true story). Other personalities at WROC-AM included Gary Smith (10am-2pm weekdays), Bob Mills (WROC-TV Weatherman) (2-6pm weekdays), Ken Powell (Skipper Sam on Channel 8) (6-9pm weekdays) and Bob Keefe ( Gilly, Bozo The Clown and Gizmo and weekend weather man for WROC-TV) 9pm-12 midnight on WROC/1280 Radio.
Will Moyle was afternoon and evening news anchor on WROC-AM and would also fill in for WROC-TV’s Tom Decker. Will also hosted “Jazz For Moderns” on Saturdays at 6pm.
In the 1960’s WROC-AM was an NBC Radio station and carried NBC’s Monitor program on weekends. Other weekend announcers included Sam Einhorn, Tony DeFusto, Ralph McTurk and Ralph Irene. At times Bill Haley (WROC-TV News ) would fill in on the radio.
That’s my memory of Earle and the legends of Rochester, N.Y TV and Radio from Humboldt Street. From John Andres (Classical 91.5/WXXI-FM Host) Sunday at 6am in Rochester, N.Y.
Sheron Dixon Wahl says
So sorry to learn of Earl’s passing. I just found out the news today, June 26, 2022. In 1959 Earl Jerris and Walter Dixon joined the staff of WHAM radio in Rochester NY. At that time it was a 50,000 watt clear channel station which could be heard in all 48 states and Canada during the evening hours. was a momentous year for WHAM radio. For a short time Walter and Earl did a short seriously unserious show together, bantering back and forth with light hearted, clever remarks mixed in with piano and song.
Almost at once, a deep and lasting bond developed between Earl and Walter. They each regarded the other’s talent as a cut above all the rest. Earl couldn’t figure out how Walter managed to play so much music in the key of D. He marveled with incredulity at Walter’s preference for that key whenever he played his repetoire of standards in all the night spots around town.
Our children remember the happy times we had when visiting Earl and his lovely wife, Vi, at their beautiful state of the art U shaped house with an awesome swimming pool.
Then there were the nights when the Jerris’s came for dinner and music at our house. Walter and I would look forward for days to the moment Earl would hear the music we discovered and knew would knock his socks off. After dinner, we’d all be lying on the floor of the living room, listening intently, silently to the new musical discovery. And then, suddenly, the moment would come when the best passage would play and we’d get to watch Earl go into raptures over it. That was the best fun of all.
In 1985 Earl and his band played at our daughter’s wedding. They were a wildly smashing success!
Earl and Walter’s friendship ended sadly when Walter died in 2003. I think of those happy times often and miss the deep bond of music we had with Earl and Vi.
I note the condolences above from John Beck, who for years was priniple percussionist with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra and professor emeritus at the Eastman School of Music after a brilliant career of teaching and performing. His tribute to Earl is a testiment to Earl’s musical genius.
Warren S Harman says
Well here I am, a year and a half late. My first remembrance of Earle was when I listened to him on the radio in Rochester every morning on my way to work. Little did I know then that I would eventually meet him and play with him in the Penfield Rotary Big Band. I played in that band for over 20 years and we had a number of pianists in that period but none as good and inspiring as Earle. He was a fabulous arranger and would often bring in his hand written big band arrangements for us to play and add to the Rotary Band library. I retired and moved to the Potsdam NY area in 2006 and lost track of Earle but I still think of him when I play recordings of the band. Tonight was one of those times and I decided to “Google” him. I’m glad that I did. I miss him as well as those big band times.