obituaries
JARRAD SAFFREN | STAFF WRITER
O n the aft ernoon of Oct. 6, the
doorbell rang at Carol Stein’s
Bryn Mawr home. It was the
sprinkler man.

Stein knew it was time to turn off the
sprinklers for the season, but she hadn’t
gotten around to it yet. It used to be her
husband’s job.

But the man was not ringing her
doorbell to ask about that. He said he
knew something was wrong because
he hadn’t heard from her husband,
Jerome “Jerry” Stein, recently. Jerry
Stein would call him just to talk or ask
him if he saw the Phillies game.

Later that day, at the bank drive-
thru, the tellers told Carol Stein that
they missed her husband. And aft er
that, at Dairy Queen, employees said
Jerry Stein
the same thing.

“Everywhere I went yesterday,” Carol
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22 OCTOBER 13, 2022 | JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
Stein said. “He took that extra step to
make people feel important.”
Jerry Stein died Sept. 18 at home
“aft er a short illness,” according to a
death notice published in the Jewish
Exponent. Th e man who owned Camp
Green Lane in Montgomery County for
more than 40 years was 92.

He is survived by his wife of 35
years and partner for more than 40,
Carol, as well as his children Lee
Stein (June), Lynda Smith (Jonathan),
Michael Banks (Lori), Debbi Weidman
(Peter) and David Banks. He is also
survived by 16 grandchildren and 13
great-grandchildren. Jerry Stein initially went into the
automobile business but found his true
calling aft er his father, George Stein,
bought Green Lane in the 1950s. As
“Uncle Jerry,” the son grew into the
camp’s friendly, high-energy public
face. He would ride around on his golf
cart and wave to everybody; he would
make time for any camper who needed
to talk to him; he would watch from
the living room of his camp house and
count buses aft er out-of-camp trips just
to make sure everyone got back safely.

His favorite part about the summer,
according to his wife, was watching a
kid walk in shy or homesick on the fi rst
day, and then walk out on the last day
smiling and laughing with friends.

“He knew every camper’s name,”
Carol Stein said.

Years aft er he sold the camp in 1995,
“Uncle Jerry” returned with Carol
Stein for a visiting day. Th e couple
ran into grandparents they knew from
Green Lane whose grandchildren were
now campers.

Many former campers attended
the shiva at the Stein house aft er the
funeral, according to Jerry Stein’s son-
in-law Peter Weidman. Several were in
their 60s. One told a story about how
he broke his arm in camp playing ball.

Uncle Jerry drove him to the hospital
and stayed with him all night. Th e
boy’s parents could not make it up in
time, and he was scared.

Weidman’s three daughters, Hilary,
36, Rachel, 32, and Katie, 29, all
attended camp. Rachel got married
three years ago, and four of her brides-
maids were from her bunk at Green
Lane. Katie’s camp friends remain
among her closest friends, according
to her father. Hilary was a competitive
gymnast, so she stopped going a little
earlier than her sisters, but next sum-
mer she’ll be sending her 8-year-old
son Brody.

A little over a month before Grandpa
Jerry died, Brody called him with the
good news.

“Pop Pop, guess what?” he said,
according to Carol Stein. “I’m going to
Green Lane next year.”
Th e grandpa smiled from ear to ear.

“Another generation,” Carol Stein
said. Stein’s children Lee Stein and Lynda
Smith are from his fi rst marriage, while
Michael Banks, Debbi Weidman and
David Banks are from Carol Stein’s fi rst
marriage. But none of them, least of all
Jerry Stein, saw it that way. Th ey were
just a family.

Th e patriarch took his children,
grandchildren and great-grandchil-
dren to Villanova University men’s
basketball games; he called himself a
“judge” when he wanted to book a res-
ervation for them at a nice restaurant,
claiming the label because he had once
“judged” Color War sing; he called
them all with his wife on their birth-
days to sing happy birthday.

Weidman said 10 grandchildren gave
eulogies at the funeral.

“He was always concerned with
their lives, careers and personal lives,”
Weidman said.

In his eulogy to his grandfather,
Sammy Smith, Lynda Smith’s son,
talked about how much he would miss
him. But he also said, “More important
than what I’ll miss is what I’ll keep.”
“I’ll keep working on the, in his
words, grandfatherly advice, he gave
me,” he said.

“How to make everyone around you
feel like the most important person
in the world,” he concluded. “And his
fi nal lesson: how to live beyond your
years through the stories and relation-
ships you create.” JE
jsaff ren@midatlanticmedia.com
Courtesy of the Stein family
Camp Green Lane Owner
Jerome ‘Jerry’ Stein Dies at 92