Gerald Tanenbaum Obituary

Gerald Stephen Tanenbaum, 79, passed away on Tuesday, January 28, 2025, in Charleston, South Carolina. 

 Born on December 12, 1945, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Gerald was the son of Harold Tanenbaum and Matilda Tanenbaum. After graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and University of Georgia School of Law, he was an attorney at Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP in New York, New York. As a partner there, he participated in and led financing arrangements for numerous major transactions, many of which were groundbreaking, while demonstrating his intelligence and wit over the course of a rewarding four-decade long career. 

 Gerald will be remembered for his style (bowties and suspenders were his signature), his brilliance, his sense of humor, his charming stubbornness, and his love for those he held dear. 

Along with his wife of 49 years Gretchen Tanenbaum, Gerald is survived by daughters Jennifer Heffer (Douglas Heffer) of Greenwich, Connecticut and Rebecca Lacey (William Lacey) of Charleston, South Carolina as well as his four adored grandchildren: Emma Heffer, Charles Heffer, Beatrice Lacey and Henrietta Lacey, the last of whom was born four days before Gerald passed away. Gerald defied his illness and held on long enough to meet his youngest grandchild, his final act of strength and generosity of spirit. 

Burial will be private with arrangements by J. Henry Stuhr, Inc. Downtown Chapel. To honor Gerald’s memory, his family requests that you eat your favorite jellybeans, drink a great Bordeaux, and tell a very inappropriate joke.