2025 -- H 5806

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LC001833

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2025

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H O U S E   R E S O L U T I O N

EXPRESSING CONDOLENCES ON THE PASSING OF MICHAEL CHARLES GERHARDT

     Introduced By: Representatives Speakman, Knight, Shekarchi, Blazejewski,
Chippendale, Donovan, Kennedy, Ajello, Edwards, and Bennett

     Date Introduced: February 27, 2025

     Referred To: House read and passed

     WHEREAS, It is with deep sadness that this House of Representatives has learned of the

passing of Michael Charles Gerhardt of Warren. Mr. Gerhardt was the beloved husband of Doree

Goodman for more than forty years; and

     WHEREAS, Mr. Gerhardt graduated from Williams College with a Bachelor’s Degree in

Economics with Highest Honors in 1963. Two years later, he graduated from Harvard University

with a Master of Business Administration degree; and

     WHEREAS, Shortly after receiving his Master’s Degree, Mr. Gerhardt began his

professional career with the United States Department of Health, Education and Welfare in

Washington, D.C., as a Health Economist. Mr. Gerhardt moved to Rhode Island in 1970 to accept

a position to serve as the Director of Planning and Evaluation at the Providence Health Centers,

and later went on to serve in leadership positions at other healthcare organizations, before he

began a 14-year career with Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island where he served as a Vice

President of HMO Development and President and CEO of HMO RI; and

     WHEREAS, After leaving Blue Cross, Mr. Gerhardt began a new career serving as an

interim director of nonprofits. He led sixteen organizations over a fifteen-year period, where he

quite often would have to stabilize internal management functions under difficult circumstances

and recruit a new qualified and motivated executive director. Some of the organizations he

managed included The Genesis Center, the Mount Hope Trust in Bristol, AIDS Project Rhode

Island, Save the Bay, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra & Music School. Over the

course of his long and distinguished professional career, Mr. Gerhardt was widely admired by his

peers for his tireless work ethic, strong leadership skills and abiding integrity; and

     WHEREAS, Michael Gerhardt was a strong believer in public service and giving back to

the community. He served on the Barrington Planning Board for ten years and, after moving to

Warren, was appointed to serve on the Warren Zoning Board of Review and, ten years later, to

the Warren Planning Board. Mr. Gerhardt also served on the Board of Trustees of the Warren

Land Trust for seven years. As its President, he greatly expanded its scope by bringing in gifts

and state grants to support the expanding functions of the organization; and

     WHEREAS, In his free time, Mr. Gerhardt enjoyed sailing on his 30 foot Catalina, the

Pandion, where he primarily sailed Narragansett Bay, but also sailed throughout coastal New

England; and

     WHEREAS, In addition to his wife, Doree Goodman, Mr. Gerhardt leaves behind his

sons, Geoffrey Charles Gerhardt and Michael Priestley Gerhardt. Mr. Gerhardt also leaves behind

his two step-sons, nine grandchildren, and one great-grandchild, Hannah Goodman. Mr. Gerhardt

also leaves behind his siblings, Thomas Gerhardt and Denis Newman; now, therefore be it

     RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby

expresses its deepest condolences to the Gerhardt Family on the passing of Michael Charles

Gerhardt; and be it further

     RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to

transmit certified copies of this resolution to Doree Goodman, Geoffrey Charles Gerhardt and

Michael Priestley Gerhardt.

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LC001833

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