The act of murder-suicide that took his parents, was, in the eyes of Neil Gervon of Cherry Hill, an act of love.

"Definitely," Gervon said during a recent phone interview. "They were always a loving couple, always together. They were together for 59 years, and I think he felt they would be together in peace now. I think — in fact, I know why he did what he did. It was so they would be together in peace. That's what gives me comfort."

On the late afternoon of Oct. 12, Gervon's father, William Gervon, an 82-year-old retired newspaper executive, walked into the CareOne nursing facility in Ewing. He sat down at the bedside of his 80-year-old wife, Florence, who had been severely debilitated by a stroke, and shot her in the forehead, killing her instantly. Then he put the handgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger, inflicting a mortal wound. He died three days later.

Some 200 people crowded into Orland's Ewing Memorial Chapel on Oct. 17 for the joint funeral for the couple. Officiating at the ceremony was Rabbi Aaron Krupnick, senior rabbi of Congregation Beth El in Voorhees and Cherry Hill, where Neil Gervon, his wife, Cheryl, and their three children are longtime members.

Neil Gervon said his father had been devastated by his mother's stroke. "She was on a feeding tube. Her cognitive abilities had waned," he said. "Basically, she was not the woman she was, and she was not coming back from it."

About 10 days before the shootings occurred, his father called him, Gervon said. "He was very depressed. He could not get out of bed. He hadn't eaten in a couple of days. He was 82 years old, and his whole life was changing, and he wasn't seeing his wife of 59 years come back."

He last spoke with his father early on the afternoon of Oct. 12, Gervon said. "My best guess is, he felt probably if my mother really knew how bad she was, she wouldn't want to continue that way, and if she wasn't around, he didn't want to be around. He never really said it.

"I understand why he did what he did," Gervon said. "I just wish it wasn't as loud and noisy as it turned out to be. It's hard to deal with. But we're working through it, day by day."
Krupnick said in a phone interview that he approached the task of officiating at the double funeral "with great empathy."

"It was most difficult, because it deeply affected people I care deeply about," the rabbi said. "In part, I felt a great deal of sadness. My responsibility is not only to give tribute to the dead, but comfort to the living, and that's what I tried to do."

Jewish tradition helps to make sense out of chaos, Krupnick said. "It's not my place as a rabbi to make moral judgments about people in great grief," he said. "I'm not looking for any great lessons from it. My responsibility was to reach out to people in need and to help them."

As Krupnick reached out to Neil Gervon, his sister, Sherida Gervon, and other members of the family, he spoke about William and Florence Gervon's dedication — to Ahavath Israel Congregation in Ewing, to their children, and to each other.

"We are here to remember them as they would want to be remembered — for the friends they made, for the good times they had, for their love of family, and, of course, for their dedication to one another," Krupnick told the assembly.

"And now, in the end, they are together once again, and the love they leave behind is their living legacy.… And although they are gone, they leave it to you to continue to walk in their ways, loving one another and standing by one another, come what may. And so, in these trying times, I pray that you live fully and love deeply, for in so doing you will forever be blessed by the memory of this wonderful couple, together for all eternity."

Florence Gervon (nee Weinberg) was born in Brooklyn. Before retiring, she was employed as a secretary at the Homasote Company in West Trenton and at Notre Dame High School in Trenton.

William Gervon, born William Gourovitch in Philadelphia, lived in Roebling before moving to Ewing Township many years ago. He was the assistant general manager of The Trentonian for 30 years before retiring.

A U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and a member of the Jewish War Veterans and the Veterans of Foreign Wars, he was also a member of the Trenton Kiwanis Club, which honored him with its Man of the Year Award.

The Gervons were longtime residents of Ewing Township and former longtime members of Ahavath Israel Congregation, where she was a member of the congregation's sisterhood and he was a member of its men's club.

In addition to their son, Neil, and their daughter, Sherida of Cherry Hill, the Gervons are survived by their three grandchildren, Stacy, David, and Jennifer Gervon. William Gervon is also survived by his brother, Sidney Gourovitch of Yardley, Pa., and his sister, Shirley Sender of Delray Beach, Fla. Burial was at Ahavath Israel Cemetery in Hamilton Township. The family has requested that memorial contributions be made to a charity of the donor's choice.