Michael Light Chernoff died on June 14, 2022 at home, with his beloved wife and daughters at his side. The cause of death, as explained by Michael’s three-year-old grandson Isaiah, is that “his heart got old and stopped working.” The workings of Michael’s joyful and generous heart had been impaired by the recurrence of incurable liver cancer. Michael met this diagnosis, and his death, with courage, acceptance, and an indomitable sense of humor.

Michael was 77 years old, and by his own account, had “lived a charmed life.” He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on January 25, 1945 to Harold and Florence Chernoff and had a happy childhood with his younger brother, John Chernoff. The family spent the summers in Beach Haven, New Jersey and Michael always carried with him the happy memories of those long summer days, the sound of his parents and their friends speaking Yiddish and drinking cocktails in the evening on the beach, the feeling of taking a nap in the sun after swimming in the ocean.

Michael attended Shadyside Academy in Pittsburgh and then Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where he earned a degree in Sociology. On May 21st of his junior year he went on a blind date with a girl named Jaymie Wolcott. Michael went to pick up Jaymie at her dorm and when she walked down the stairs to meet him it was, as he explained later, “game over.” He fell in love instantly, and – as anyone who ever met him knows – he stayed madly in love with her all of his life.

Michael and Jaymie loved their adventures together, beginning with their one-way tickets to Greece in 1971, two years after they were married. They lived and worked in Athens, and then on the small island of Syros. They continued to travel over the years while they shared the everyday adventure of working, raising their two girls, Nina and Bryn, and being a part of the Amherst community. In retirement they embarked on a new adventure together, studying Spanish and eventually buying a home in Queretaro, Mexico where they lived for part of each year. Michael was passionate about Mexico and called his time there a “complement to his soul.” The adventure, the novelty, and the freshness were invigorating to him. He loved the warm and patient culture of the Queretanos, the concerts on every corner, and “Numero 73,” their beautiful home filled with flowers and hummingbirds. 

Michael’s professional life was shaped by his intellectual curiosity and his determination to be a good provider. He earned a master’s degree in Sociology at the University of Chicago, and a PhD in Sociology at UMass Amherst. He started his career as an Assistant Professor of Sociology at Georgia State University, but found he was drawn more to real-world projects and New England. He left academia and joined the marketing team at National Evaluation Systems in Amherst. At the time of his retirement in 2010, he was a development officer for the UMass Engineering College where he was fascinated by the engineering projects and broke office records in outreach and fundraising. 

What Michael brought to every job was an intense work ethic and irreverent sense of humor. He had treasured colleagues over the years, many of whom became dear friends, who joined him both in his philosophy that “everything worth doing is worth doing well” as well as a variety of hijinks. For all his professional success, he would say that his best job had been on the garbage truck in his high school summers in Beach Haven; he loved the early morning camaraderie, stopping at the Coast Guard station for donuts and coffee, and finishing in time for an afternoon at the beach.

Michael has been an active member of the Amherst community for over forty years. He spent a few lively years as a member of the Amherst School Committee; he was a volunteer tutor and Board Member of the Amherst Literacy Project; and most recently was fundraising for The Jones Library. He was a former Board member of the Jewish Community of Amherst, a writer of sharp and thoughtful letters to the editor of the Gazette, and a stalwart fan of American Legion games at the high school field.

Michael loved his circle of long-time friends in Amherst, his new friendships in Mexico, being a part of the Jewish community, having meaningful conversations, his Spanish lessons, physics, his daily volunteer role managing finances for his daughter Bryn’s business, astronomy, loud music, reading, coffee, working out, checking things off lists, drag racing, a good nap (he always recommended the “luge” position for napping), and especially his Pittsburgh Steelers. He often expressed his affection by heckling and was always cracking jokes, but he was serious about love. He loved his wife and daughters with a force and depth that made their lives rich and safe and joyful; a love that will sustain them in the days to come.

Michael’s surviving family members include his wife of more than 53 years, Jaymie Chernoff; their daughter Nina Chernoff and her partner Mark Sylvester; their daughter Bryn Chernoff and her husband Tim Yu, and their children, Simone and Isaiah; his brother John Chernoff and John’s wife Donna Chernoff; his sisters-in-law Jill Wolcott, Janine Wolcott, Joan Wolcott and her husband Craig Elliott, Jennifer Wolcott and her husband Bernard Cabrera, and his beloved nieces and nephews, Eunice, Eva, Harlan, Avram, Jemma, Sergei, Cate, Oliver, Owen, Alex, Nat, and Nick. Michael is predeceased by his beloved parents, as well as his dear cousins Harvey and Lenore Light.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21st at the Jewish Community Center of Amherst. All who knew and cared for Michael are welcome. The family will be sitting shiva at their home at 97 Gray Street from 7 to 9 p.m. on June 21st, 22nd, and 23rd. (Shiva is an opportunity for anyone reading this to come by and call on the family to offer condolences and support; you do not need to be Jewish to attend.) Memorial guestbook at www.douglassfuneral.com