Jerome Beach Thompson of Truro, a longtime builder and vibrant storyteller, died in his sleep on June 14, 2025 in the house that he built for his family in 1976. He was 88.
His son, Jesse, remembers him as “full of fun and laughter and great stories.”
Jerry was born in New Haven, Conn. on Jan. 21, 1937, to Janet Porter Battles, a children’s librarian, and Harold Zack Thompson, who left the family when Jerry was an infant and was never heard from again, according to Jesse. Jerry and his older brother, Porter, were raised in Branford, Conn., by Janet and her parents — Dr. Charles Porter, the town dentist, and Lucelia, a tailor and herbalist — who stepped in to help after their father’s departure.
Jerry enjoyed gathering wild asparagus with his grandmother, becoming an Eagle Scout, and earning varsity letters in basketball and football at Branford High School, said his goddaughter, Kirsten Feldman, whose father, Eric Bloomberg, was a childhood friend of Jerry’s.
After high school, Jerry joined the U.S. Navy and served in the Mediterranean until 1959, when he and Eric moved to New York City and worked as bartenders at a jazz club, serving greats from Dave Brubeck to Nina Simone. Jerry earned a degree in English literature at Columbia over a stretch of six years, taking time off to save money.
During one of those money-saving stints, he worked an unsatisfying job selling vinyl siding at Sears — until Eric made a suggestion that would alter the course of Jerry’s life. “He said, ‘There’s this place called Provincetown where we could get jobs for the summer. We should go,’ ” said Jesse. They went, finding work at the Old Colony Tap and the Surf Club and sleeping in “Casa Cadillac,” Jerry’s cherished 1952 automobile. Being there “just changed him forever,” Jesse said. “He was like, ‘This is the place I want to be.’ ”
It would be a while until Jerry returned permanently to the Cape. In 1967, traveling through Europe with friends, he met his future wife, Brooklynite Judy Connor, who was in Rome celebrating her 29th birthday.
“He just happened to be at my party, which was at a $5-a-day pensione,” Judy said. “I thought he was an interesting person because he liked Shakespeare and baseball, and I thought, ‘That’s really a different combination.’ There was something about him.” Jerry felt the same about Judy.
The couple moved to Boston, where Jerry earned a master’s degree from Boston College and taught English at Newton South High School. They spent summers in Provincetown as part of a local scene of “rascals and beauties,” said Kirsten. They worked at the A House, danced at Piggy’s, held court at the Surf Club, clammed on the flats, and spent time in the dune shacks.
Jerry and Judy moved to Provincetown in 1972. “We took all kinds of jobs,” said Judy. “Yogi Berra had a saying Jerry liked: ‘If you see a fork in the road, take it.’ That’s what we did.”
Jerry tended bar at the Flagship until he transitioned to carpentry, working for local contractors before founding his own business, Cornhill Woodworks, eventually partnering with Judy’s brother, David.
In 1976, Judy and Jerry designed and built their post-and-beam dream house in Truro — complete with a Conrad Malicoat fireplace. It was the first of many houses Jerry would design and build here.
Their kitchen “served as a hub for sprawling, laughter-filled meals and stories,” said Kirsten. Jerry served his signature dishes, including Ciro & Sal’s anchovy Pasta Randazizzi and Napi’s kale soup.
Jerry retired in 2001 and returned to an early-in-life love — writing. He wrote plays (some produced at the Provincetown Theater) and stories about his life in a memoir group led by Rosalind Pace.
“He was a quiet person,” said Judy, “a gentleman and a good observer. He wasn’t aiming for some big success. He was just aiming to get things down on paper and be with a group.”
Rosalind added, “He made us love and respect all the folks he wrote about and feel the warmth of his positive outlook on life — his life.”
Jerry was a member of the Beachcombers Club, moving into the visual arts by creating abstract ink drawings — some of which were shown at a solo exhibit at the Truro Library in the final year of his life.
Jesse was with his father when they went to the library to schedule the art show. “When they asked him when it should be, he said, ‘As soon as possible — I don’t know how much longer I’ll be around,’ ” Jesse said. “A lot of people showed up, and it was great.”
Jerry is survived by Judy, his wife of 58 years, of Truro; son Jesse Porter Thompson, wife Nicole St. Hilaire, and their three children, Lucelia, Rohan, and Meredith, of Seattle; sisters-in-law Betty Hill Thompson of High Point, N.C. and Chris Connor McCabe of Hingham; brother-in-law Joe Connor of Truro; goddaughter Kirsten Bloomberg Feldman of Truro and her brother, Brett Avelin, of Guilford, Conn.; godson Anthony Grandel of Wellfleet; 11 nieces and nephews; and 34 grandnieces and -nephews.
Jerry was predeceased by his mother; his stepfather, Tom Battles; his brother, Porter; and his step-brother, Tommy Battles.
In lieu of flowers, donations in Jerry’s honor may go to the Visiting Nurse Association of Cape Cod Hospice, the Truro Council on Aging, or the Truro Public Library.
A mid-August memorial service is to be announced.
