Jerome E. “Captain Jerry” Baldwin

Jerome E. “Captain Jerry” Baldwin, husband of Lee Anderson Baldwin, died Wednesday, May 5, at his home at Bennetts Point. He was born on Fenwick Island on August 28, 1930 to F.E. “Gene” Baldwin and Louise Bivens Baldwin.  In 1949 he graduated from Walterboro High School, where he played on the varsity football team.  That same year he enlisted and served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean Conflict until 1953.  He was a member of Green Pond Baptist Church.

 Jerry was well known throughout the Lowcountry of South Carolina as a hard-charging shrimper; dock-, dike-, and bridge-building contractor; consultant for wetlands management and restoration; and as a dragline, crane, and trackhoe operator.  In his own construction business, he was known for undertaking challenging jobs that others were reluctant to tackle — the more challenging, the better they suited him.  He was an avid, fun-loving, high-spirited outdoorsman in the waters and marshlands around St. Helena Sound who enjoyed and entertained his many friends and relatives with lively tales and stories of his adventures.

Following his discharge from the Air Force, he became the then S.C. Wildlife and Marine Resources Department’s first manager of what is today the Bear Island Wildlife Management Area, a position he held for six years.  His time working in and around the coastal region of the state   included running the “oyster factory” on Yonges Island for the L.P. Maggioni Co.  As a shrimper trawling the waters from South Carolina around the Florida Keys to Mississippi, he owned and captained a succession of shrimp boats — the “Devilfish,” “Credit,” “Dixie Lady,” and lastly, the aptly named “My Way.”

Jerry was predeceased by his parents and all of his siblings: sisters Yvonne B. Hendrix and Margaret B. Rowland Plowden and brothers Joe Baldwin, Frank E. Baldwin, Jr., and W.S. “Billie” Baldwin.  In addition to his wife and life partner of 46 years, Lee Baldwin of Bennetts Point, he is survived by daughters Ilona Baldwin and Deborah Baldwin Watkins (Mark); sons J. Emerson Baldwin, Jr. (Cindy) and Wallace “Wally” Anderson (Melanie); granddaughter Christina Louise Petersen; great-grandson Skyler Johnson; great-granddaughters Madalyn Johnson and Izabella Petersen.

The family extends its heartfelt gratitude for the care and compassion rendered by staff personnel from Intrepid Hospice: Whitney, Alisa, Sissy and, with special thanks, Brenda.  

A Memorial Service will be held Monday afternoon, May 10, 2021 at 2:00 in the chapel of Parker-Rhoden Funeral Home, 117 Paul Street in Walterboro.  The family will receive friends  immediately following the service.