Jerome ‘Jerry’ Lovick Jr., director of financial aid at CCBC Catonsville, dies

Frederick N. Rasmussen, Baltimore Sun
·3 min read

Jerome “Jerry” Lovick Jr., who oversaw financial aid at Community College of Baltimore County Catonsville, died April 11 at his Owings Mills residence. He was 81.

No cause of death was available, said a niece, Tanya Gladden, of Hanover.

“Jerry was super bright and one of the calmest people I’ve ever met, and a very special person,” said Margaret F. Bowler, former assistant director of financial aid enrollment and student services at the college, who worked closely with Mr. Lovick for 40 years.

“He hired me and I started as a financial aid counselor,’ Ms. Bowler said. “He was even-tempered and had very good judgment and was always willing to take on a challenge. Financial aid is very complicated, and he encouraged people who worked with him to move ahead and he was their mentor.”

Jerome Lovick Jr., son of Jerome Lovick Sr., a farmer, and the Rev. Terussia Lovick, was born in Kinston, North Carolina, and raised there.

After graduating from Woodington High School, he moved to Baltimore, where relatives had migrated earlier, and earned a bachelor’s degree in 1965 in French from what is now Morgan State University. He also obtained a master’s degree from Howard University.

Mr. Lovick then served with the Army as a personnel specialist until being discharged.

He began his business career working at General Motors, and in 1970, joined the admissions office at what was then known as Catonsville Community College.

He was promoted to director of financial aid in 1981, and finally to director of financial aid enrollment and student services.

Mr. Lovick was so enthusiastic about his job that “he carried financial aid applications in the trunk of his car,” Ms. Bowler said.

“He hired me 28 years ago as coordinator of veteran services and financial aid,” said Mark A. Gay, who continues at CCBC Catonsville as one of the directors of financial aid.

“He was a gentle giant and a wonderful father figure. He was a colleague, mentor and my friend, and he is the godfather to my daughters,” he said.

“He had patience and I learned from him. He was kind and a gentleman at all times and was well-loved at the college,” Mr. Gay said.

“People would stop him in the grocery store to ask about financial aid and he’d talk to them,” Mr. Gay said. “Jerry looked out for people all of the time and he was secondary.”

In addition to his work at the college, Mr. Lovick was active in the DE-DC-MD Association of Financial Administrators, and at the time of his death was a member of First Financial Credit Union’s scholarship committee.

After 42 years at CCBC Catonsville, Mr. Lovick retired in 2012.

He was a trustee and deacon at Cornerstone Church of Christ, where he sang in the choir.

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“He did community service through his church. He was everything about helping people and giving back to the community,” his niece, Ms. Gladden said. “Helping young adults was his mission.”

In 1979, he was initiated into the fraternity Phi Beta Sigma, Kappa Nu chapter, at CCBC Catonsville, and in 2008 joined the alumni chapter.

“He was very musical and loved singing,” Mr. Gay said. “He also loved to learn about things.”

He enjoyed dining at the old Stanford Kitchen and Bonefish Grill in Owings Mills, family members said, and traveling.

Mr. Lovick had a “charismatic personality and a witty sense of humor that made all who came across him laugh and smile,” his niece said.

In 1968, he married Gloria A. Wiggins, a Social Security Administration analyst, who died in 2013.

“He truly lived the life of the old spiritual, ‘May the Work That I’ve Done Speak for Me,'” Ms. Gladden said.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at his church at 4239 Park Heights Ave.

In addition to his niece, Mr. Lovick is survived by two sisters, Mildred E. Reaves, of Gwynn Oak, and Lou C. Randle, of Baltimore; and many other nieces and nephews.