Maurice Cerier Dead at 62

Maurice Cerier, United Jewish Appeal’s assistant vice president for major gifts, died of a brain tumor last Friday at the age of 62.

In a joint statement, Alexander Grass, UJA national chairman, Robert Loup, chairman of the Board, and Stanley Horowitz, UJA president, eulogized him as “a dedicated and deeply compassionate professional (who) toiled day and night for many decades on behalf of his people at home, in Israel and around the world” and as “a supremely effective campaign executive.”

Cerier had served the Jewish community for most of his adult life and for the last nine years had worked with UJA in the major gifts area, first as the agency’s director of major gifts and later as an assistant vice president. He had most recently been involved in planning and implementing the UJA Major Gifts Invitational Mission in September and the 12th Annual International Leadership Reunion earlier this month, both of which were extremely successful UJA fund-raising activities.

Prior to joining national UJA, Cerier served the UJA of Greater New York from 1948 to 1976, when he joined national UJA. His last position at the New York UJA was that of director of special gifts. Ernest Michel, executive vice president of the UJA of Greater New York, called Cerier “one of the best fund-raisers I have ever worked with” and termed his death “a loss not only personally but also professionally.”