Gerry McLoughlin of Roslyn, PA, passed away on March 22, 2016. Born in Philadelphia, PA on October 8, 1941, he attended Germantown Academy K-12, and was a graduate of Cornell University.
Gerry’s greatest joy was collecting minerals of all types. He had a special passion for fluorescent minerals and was active in the Franklin and Sterling Hill mineral community. He didn’t miss an annual spring show or fall show in the 25 years that I knew him.
His mineral interests began when he was a child, starting his first collection when he was in summer camp in the Adirondacks. He started buying crystalized minerals from rock shops in 1973, eventually branching out into fossils, sea shells, mining artifacts, gemstone rough, slabs and polished cabochons. In the 1980s he got into one of his greatest passions, field collecting fluorescent mineral. He spent most weekends collecting in the Franklin area during the season at this time.
About 1990 he met Claude Poli and they often field collected together. They bought back thousands of pounds of material and hundreds of great fluorescent specimens. Many stories were spun about prized pieces that were found, trades that were made and the characters that they knew. Gerry liked nothing more than to sit with a friend in the middle of his collection of fluorescent pieces, have a beer, and to talk rocks. He had a dream of having his own museum someday for what he called his “natural art”.
His minerals are now in the hands of at least three museums and hundreds of appreciative collectors.
|
