Jeremiah 'Jerry' Young, former sound engineer, dies at 72

Jeremiah “Jerry” Young, a former sound engineer for well-known artists, died on Thursday, June 16, 2022. He was 72.

He was born on April 3, 1950, in Philadelphia to the late Rev. Jeremiah Young and Dorothy Juanita (Mathis) Young. He was the oldest of his mother’s children and took on a patriarchal role for four younger siblings at an early age.

He attended Martha Washington Elementary School and Sulzberger Mayer Middle School.

From an early age, Young loved taking things apart to see how they worked — radios, toasters, cameras, cassette players and the family’s first television. His mother enrolled him in Benjamin Franklin High School’s program for industrial arts.

He joined the high school track and field team and also attended the Penn Relays every year, which later became a family tradition.

Shortly after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the Air Force Reserves. While stationed at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, he continued to develop his leadership and technical skills, and he continued training as a runner. At one point, his cadre of comrades included former President George W. Bush.

Young also had a love for music growing up, and one of his first jobs included working for Sigma Sound Studio. His technical skills came in handy as he worked as a sound engineer for notable artists in the 1970s. He received several gold records for his work with the O’Jays, MFSB (“Mother Father Sister Brother”), The Jones Girls and Patti LaBelle. He also built his own speaker set and traveled around as a DJ for several years.

He joined Gulf Oil in 1971 or 1972, where he was one of the first Black operators, and worked there for 50 years. Because of his work with the refinery as a senior systems analyst, he was invited to be a guest lecturer at Princeton University for several years on the topic of natural resources. In 2013, he received an honorary degree in engineering in advanced control systems from the university.

Known for his love of cars, in 1975 he purchased a Bricklin, which was similar to the infamous Knight Rider car, and he drove his sisters around town and to school in the fancy sports car.

While attending his sister’s graduation from Eastern University, he took a picture of a friend in attendance. He was later introduced to this friend, Lillian (JoAnn) Badie. After a two-year courtship, they were married at Calvary Baptist Church in Chester in 1980. From this union, they had two children: Joshua Adrian and Joy Claudia. Early in the marriage, the couple traveled to Russia, China, Japan, Egypt, Israel, Singapore and Spain.

The couple were both members of New Covenant Church for about 15 years, and later became involved with Fresh Anointing Christian Center. He served as the lead sound system technician at Fresh Anointing for several years and had a recording studio in the basement of his family home. There, he and his wife often recorded songs together.

“From his humble beginnings as a child, Jerry led a truly extraordinary life,” his family said in a tribute. “He embodied many of the values of the Baby Boomer generation; he was confident, independent, and not afraid of a hard day’s work. Although he was competitive, this came more from intrinsic than extrinsic motivation. Once his mind was made up, it was not easily changed. A hallmark of his personality was that he loved to tell jokes; this was the last thing to go as his health declined.”

He is survived by his children, Joshua Adrian and Joy Claudia; grandson, Carter Justice Mobley; three sisters, Sharon (Young) Joyner, Juliet and Joslyn-Lewis Williams (Chris); and other family members and friends.

Services were held on Friday, June 24, at Pickens Funeral Home.