Gerald ( Jerry) Shaye

   Gerald (Jerry) Shaye, 78, passed away at his home in Delmar, New York, on August 22nd, 2021.  Born in Albany, New York, on October 26th, 1942, he was the son of the late Beatrice (Rabinowitz) Shaye, and the late Sol Shaye. Jerry graduated Albany High School in 1960. He received his A.B. degree from Dartmouth College in 1964, where he majored in Economics, and an M.BA. from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. After graduate school, Jerry volunteered to serve in the Peace Corps, and trained for this work in Ankara, Turkey and Guanajuato, Mexico. After training, he was stationed in different regions in South America, settling in the Venezuelan Andes, where he was responsible for establishing and promoting agricultural cooperatives. After the Peace Corps, Jerry and several partners established the first commercial mushroom farm in La Puerta, Venezuela. In La Puerta, Jerry met Maria Adela Barrios and they were married in 1974.

          Jerry then joined “The Boulton Group”, a large Venezuelan trading and manufacturing business. For over 10 years, Jerry held positions of increasing responsibility, including sales manager, general manager, and vice-president. During his time in Boulton, Jerry and Adela moved often and had three children, all born in different cities: Daniel (in Maracaibo), Ana (in Valencia), and Richard (in Barcelona). Jerry’s final position in Boulton sent the family to Venezuela’s capital, Caracas. After years of city life, Jerry wanted to return to the bucolic Andean setting of Timotes, Venezuela, where he first came to Venezuela,. There, Jerry also returned to his Peace Corps and cooperative roots, serving as General Manager of “Cooperativa La Andina”, Venezuela's largest agricultural cooperative. 

          In 1990 the Shaye’s moved to Delmar, and Jerry took a position as International Trade Specialist for the State of New York, and he later served as Director of International Trade Development with Empire State Development. Jerry was responsible for the development and execution of trade promotion strategies, working with New York State-based staff and twelve foreign-based New York State offices. In this capacity, he led trade missions to China, Japan, Europe, and Latin America, he helped develop a creative export education program, “Export NY”, consulted with many businesses in New York State, and frequently hosted visiting delegations from foreign countries. Jerry’s work required frequent contact with consular authorities in New York City as well as close coordination with the U.S. Department of Commerce. Jerry was Past President of the Tech Valley Global Business Network of New York’s Capital Region, and a long-time member of its board. He served as chair of the Albany-Tula Sister City Alliance and was on the board of the Albany Roundtable, The Albany Fund for Education, and the International Center of the Capital Region.    

          In addition to his work for New York State, Jerry was also a dedicated educator. He taught “International Business” and “International Marketing” in the M.B.A. programs at Union Graduate College, The State University of New York at Albany, The Sage Colleges and at the Universidad Del Salvador in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He also helped develop a cooperative program with the Universidad Del Salvador which brought SUNY Albany Faculty to teach in Argentina. Jerry treasured his interactions with his students both in the US and internationally, and assisted many in securing internships, and other positions, with companies in New York State and beyond.

          Jerry retired from his New York State position, after 22 years of service, in 2012. But retirement did not mean an end to Jerry’s dedication to education and international trade: he continued to teach, and founded “Shaye Global, LLC”, a consulting firm dedicated to international trade development, and through which Jerry helped provide global opportunities for New York State businesses and educational institutions. Jerry’s achievements, and his many years of dedicated service and leadership, where recognized in a proclamation by the Mayor of Albany, Kathy M. Sheehan, declaring November 17, 2017 as “Gerald Shaye Day”.

          Jerry’s work aligned perfectly with his enduring love of travel. He prized becoming immersed in international cultures and meeting individuals from all over the world, and he was an excellent and enthusiastic host to international visitors to the Albany area. His love for travel is a family trait shared by his kids and three brothers (Gary, Steven, and Lewis), and for more than twenty consecutive years Jerry took an annual trip with his brothers to different locations in the US, Canada, and South America.

          Jerry was a devoted father to his children, and their spouses, and loving grandfather to, Gabriel Sol, who brought him great joy. In addition to his wife, Adela, Jerry is survived by his son Daniel, his wife Jackie, and grandson Gabriel (Oak Park, IL), his daughter Ana Rutledge, and her husband Caleb (Conifer, CO), his son Richard, and his wife Loreto, (Woodbridge, NJ), his brother Gary (Averill Park, NY), his brother Steven and sister-in-law Janet (Slingerlands, NY), and his brother Lewis, and sister-in-law Libby (Irmo, South Carolina), and brothers- and sisters-in-law in Venezuela: Olindo and Baldomera Barrios, Mateo and Rosa Barrios, Oracio Barrios, Matias and Sussana Barrios, Maria and Alfonso Vergara, and Ramon Barrios. 

To celebrate Jerry’s life, in lieu of flowers, his family requests that donations be given in his honor to the Albany-Tula Alliance https://albanytula.org
or to the National Peace Corps Association, peacecorpsconnect.org

Services and interment for Jerry  will be held on Wednesday for family only. Those wishing to do so may email, Dan Shaye at danshaye@gmail.com regarding the livestream of the service  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O9L8AXjs-I

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