Eric D. Gerst, lawyer, author, entrepreneur, and social activist, has died at 83

Eric D. Gerst, 83, of Willistown Township, longtime lawyer, author, entrepreneur, and social activist, died Tuesday, Nov. 5, of respiratory failure at Paoli Hospital.

Mr. Gerst was an expert in insurance, transportation, and real estate law, and he rose to senior partner at firms and worked independently in Philadelphia for more than 50 years. He founded an insurance services company and did research, spoke on radio and TV shows, and testified before Congress about insurance industry malfeasance.

His 2008 book, Vulture Culture, details what he calls “dirty deals, unpaid claims, and the coming collapse of the insurance industry.” He lamented that insurance was originally designed to offer customers peace of mind and said in an online audio interview on the Transformation Network’s Dr. Pat Show: “The peace of mind is now eroded, and we have a major problem.”

Syndicated columnist Jim Davidson said in a 2010 review that Vulture Culture was “a call to action to clean up the industry before it’s too late.”

In the 1980s, Mr. Gerst was hired to represent a short-line railroad owner, and he became so interested in the business that he and others acquired Octoraro Railway Inc. and its 71-mile short line in 1991. His cars hauled mostly freight to local customers in Chester County, and The Inquirer featured his Chadds Ford & Brandywine sightseeing train in a story when it opened. “You are witnessing something that we hope will last a long time,” Mr. Gerst told riders at the 1993 ribbon-cutting.

He was executive vice chair of the Bartram Bridge Joint Preservation Commission and so active over 30 years that neighbors referred to the historic covered bridge over Crum Creek on Goshen Road as Eric’s Bridge. In 2014, he earned the Willistown Township Community Service Award.

His also wrote about the Bartram Bridge, the 2008 financial crisis, and other issues. He helped found the Reading-based Shalom newspaper in 1971 and edited a newsletter for the American Bar Association.

He served as cocounsel for the Pennsylvania Democratic Election Committee and voter protection coordinator for the Chester County Board of Elections. He also worked on Gov. Ed Rendell’s transition team.

Mr. Gerst and his wife, Carol, marched and protested against war and social injustice, and he spent a summer in Mexico during college as part of the Experiment in International Living. He served two years Stateside in the Army in the 1960s and was invited as a designated observer to the Paris Peace Accords that ended the Vietnam War in 1973.

“He was the most interesting person I ever met,” his wife said. “He had such a zest for life.”

Eric Doran Gerst was born March 14, 1941, in Brooklyn. His family moved to Clifton, N.J., when he was 10, and he starred on the tennis team and played clarinet in the marching band at Clifton High School.

He earned a bachelor’s degree in American civilization at Rutgers University and was managing editor of the college newspaper, president of Sigma Alpha Mu fraternity, a member of the Cap and Skull honor society, and vice president of the Interfraternity Council. He became interested in the law after doing military justice work in the Army and graduated from Dickinson Law School in Carlisle, Pa., in 1967.

He met Carol Fisher in high school, and they reconnected later through a mutual friend, and married in 1965. They had a son, Jeff, and a daughter, Liz, and lived in Philadelphia, Reading, and then Willistown Township since the early 1970s.

Mr. Gerst coached his son’s Little League team and made personalized pancakes for breakfast after sleepovers. He played tennis and golf, and wrote a special love poem to his wife on their 35th wedding anniversary. Practically everyone called him Banta because his granddaughter did.

A spinal condition grew progressively worse over the last 20 years, and Mr. Gerst eventually became paralyzed from the neck down. But he didn’t slow down, and he embraced the emerging technology that helped him continue to live and work.

He traveled to Mexico and Europe with his wife, and they went to movies and out for dinner. “He couldn’t walk, but he could still experience,” she said.

His brother Roger said: “Eric was a guiding light. He faced the difficulties as they came and overcame them every time.” His brother Bob said: “It was one of the great gifts of my life to have him as my brother.”

Mr. Gerst’s son said: “He used to often say, ‘Now is life’s most precious time,’ and he lived that way, always taking time to make the moment special.” His daughter said: “He often said, ‘Ninety percent of life is showing up,’ and, boy, did he ever.”

In addition to his wife, children, and brothers, Mr. Gerst is survived by three grandchildren and other relatives.

A celebration of his life was held on Nov. 10.

Donations in his name may be made to the Newtown Square Historical Society and the Bartram Covered Bridge, Box 3, Newtown Square, Pa. 19073.