Jerry Grant operated the Chappy Ferry for 22 years. He built the ferry boats that serve Chappaquiddick today.

Thirty years after he stopped owning it, he told me that he still wakes up in the middle of the night from dreams of worry about running the Chappy ferry and has a hard time falling back to sleep. He had complicated problems to solve back in the 60s and 70s. He depended upon common sense to address those problems. He would remind his ferry captains to use their best judgement when faced with weather challenges, grumpy passengers or overloaded trucks. Every facet of the ferry operation continues to benefit from his best judgement of years ago.

Jerry died last Thursday. His memorial service will be Saturday March 23 at the Whaling Church at 2 p.m. followed by a reception at the old library just up the hill from the ferry.