Louis J. Jerbi, a retired Social Security Administration adviser who parlayed his love of the sea and ships into being an active volunteer aboard the Liberty ship John W. Brown, died Saturday of an aneurysm at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center.
The longtime Phoenix, Baltimore County, resident was 60.
Mr. Jerbi was stricken early Saturday morning while onboard the John W. Brown, which is docked at Pier 1, Clinton Street, in Canton, and died en route to the hospital, family members said.
Mr. Jerbi, the son of a career colonel who served in the Army Dental Corps and a homemaker, was born in New York City and raised at military installations in the U.S. and abroad.
In his youth, Mr. Jerbi first encountered shipboard life when he sailed from Europe to New York aboard the liner SS United States with his family.
After graduating from Northwood High School in Silver Spring in 1966, he attended the University of Maryland, College Park, and earned a bachelor's degree in history and sociology in 1970 from what is now Towson University.
He began his career as a claims authorizer in 1970 at the SSA's Woodlawn headquarters, and was a technical adviser at the time of his retirement in 2005.
"Lou had always been interested in ships, and when they brought the John Brown to Baltimore in 1988, he wanted to work on the ship, but our children were small at the time," said his wife of 39 years, the former Diane C. Van Wright, a registered nurse who is also a volunteer and member of the board of Project Liberty Ship Inc., which owns the historic World War II-era vessel.
Mr. Jerbi who began volunteering in 1997 on the John W. Brown, was joined by a son, Michael C. Jerbi, who now lives in Abingdon. "And then I tagged along and joined," Mrs. Jerbi said.
Eventually, another son, John Louis Jerbi, who was away studying at college at the time and now lives in Phoenix, Baltimore County, joined his parents and brother aboard the ship. He is also a member of the board of Project Liberty Ship.
Over the years, Mr. Jerbi held varied shipboard duties, including serving as chief steward in the ship's galley and working in the deck department.
"Lou Jerbi has been an all-purpose deckman on the Brown, working winches, tying and untying the ship, caring for the safety and security of the crew, managing the food supply, guiding visitors, doing dozens of things preparing for cruises," wrote former Sun editor and John Brown volunteer Ernest F. Imhoff, whose book "Good Shipmates" chronicled the story of the ship's reactivation in Baltimore.
"Lou Jerbi was a key figure among John W. Brown volunteers - he knew well both the ship and the individual crew members. When he saw something needing attention, he was quick to offer help and get involved. He was never a bystander," said Michael J. Schneider, chairman of Project Liberty Ship.
"Over the years, his enthusiastic involvement in shipboard activities would see him serve as the vessel security officer, do a highly acclaimed stint as chief steward when that billet suddenly went vacant, work as an instructor with youth program training - all that in addition to his regular work with the deck department," Mr. Schneider said.
"I remember him always having a slight smile on his face, as if he had just accomplished something good or was about to," he said.
Mr. Imhoff described Mr. Jerbi as "good-natured" and the "young patriarch of what some call the first family of the SS John W. Brown, based on their valuable hard work."
He added: "Lou's sudden, unexpected collapse on the ship and death at age 60 shocked shipmates and brought some to tears. But let it be noted, as Diane said, Lou died in the place he loved."
When not aboard the Brown, Mr. Jerbi indulged his passion for reading and working on his extensive HO-gauge model railroad. He also enjoyed restoring the home he and his wife had purchased some years ago.
A memorial Mass will be offered at 11 a.m. today at St. John the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church, 13311 Long Green Pike in Hydes.
In addition to his wife and sons, Mr. Jerbi is survived by his mother, Adelaide Jerbi of Phoenix, Baltimore County; and a brother, Thomas Jerbi of Lutherville.