Dateline: Ballston Lake, NY
William Charles Jerome, 70, passed away peacefully on November 17, at home in Ballston Lake, with family by his side.
Bill was born on February 26, 1952 in Trenton, New Jersey to William Barker Jerome and Frances Vogel Wagner Jerome. The eldest of five and the only boy, Bill grew up in Guilford, CT. Bill was a Boy Scout for many years in Guilford, working his way up to becoming an Eagle Scout. He attended Guilford High School, class of 1970, where he was introduced to the early generation of computers. As a teenager he pursued an interest in the stock market. Both of these activities laid the groundwork for his future career as the founder of Capital Financial Services, LLC. Bill graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1975 with a Bachelor of Science degree focused on political science and a Master of Science degree in urban and environmental science. He was a member of the Acacia fraternity.
Bill established Capital Financial Services, LLC (CFS), a financial advisory practice, in 1990. Before that he worked as Circulation Software Department Manager at Vision Data Equipment Corporation for five years. He also spent time as a database specialist at Burroughs/Unisys. CFS combined his interest in the stock market with that of working with people and computers. He always enjoyed visiting with his clients to get to know them as well as their goals for the future. Bill was proud to be a fee-only financial planner, believing that his financial success should be connected to that of all his clients.
Outside of work, Bill's interests included being on the ice. In college he had played ice hockey as a goalie, playing after college with local area teams. With time, curling took the place of the more active ice hockey and Bill joined the Schenectady Curling Club as player and, for a time, treasurer. He was a Bruins fan. He also spent time volunteering with Building Homes for Heroes.
An avid gamer, Bill played online and tabletop games and created his own campaign setting for Dungeons & Dragons, which allowed him to play with his son and grandchild in Pittsburgh, PA as well as meet people from around the world. He once travelled halfway across the country to meet members of his Warcraft guild in person. A lifelong admirer of J.R.R. Tolkien, he and his son traveled to New Zealand to visit filming locations of the Peter Jackson films. In 2019 Bill met his son, grandchild and sister at the Morgan Library in New York City to see "Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth."
Bill was married and divorced twice: the first time to Susan Mazanowski, the second marriage to Marilyn K. Phillips. He recently separated from long-time companion Ellen Blake.
He is survived by his son, William Joseph Jerome, and grandchild Theo Jerome, both of Pittsburgh, PA. He was always proud of them both! Bill is also survived by sisters Lynn Jerome Slik of Boylston, MA, Anne Jerome of New London, CT, and Susan J. Jerome of Stonington, CT and Kathy Jerome of Florida.
Per Bill’s wishes, a Celebration of Life will be held on February 25, 2023, at the Hilton Garden Inn, 30 Clifton Country Rd., Clifton Park, NY, from 4:00 – 8:00pm. The family welcomes donations to charities such as The American Cancer Society, 1 Penny Lane Latham, New York 12110 or Project Purple 115 Main Street Suite 1, Seymour, CT 06483-3167 as an expression of sympathy instead of flowers.