FAIRFIELD — First Selectman Bill Gerber has died from complications of brain surgery at Yale New Haven Hospital, according to his family.
Gerber, 60, succumbed to complications from surgery to remove a brain tumor in early July. He was first selectman since being elected in 2023 after serving as a Representative Town Meeting member for a number of years.
“We are heartbroken to share that our beloved father and husband Bill Gerber passed away at Yale New Haven Hospital at 4:11PM today (Tuesday, July 15),” his family – Jessica, John and Gillian Gerber – said in a statement. “After undergoing two brain surgeries within 48 hours, he was ultimately unable to recover from the numerous complications that ensued in the days that followed.
“To say that there is now a gaping hole in our lives is an understatement. We are still trying to come to terms with everything that has happened these past two and a half weeks. We are grateful to the friends and family who have helped us during this time as well as the staff at Yale New Haven Hospital, who worked around the clock to support him and us.”
The family plans to have a ceremony to celebrate his life soon. The family asks all of those who knew the first selectman to take a moment to remember and celebrate “someone who was so selfless and who loved his friends, family, job and his hometown of almost 30 years so much.”
The family stated that despite the physical issues he was experiencing as a result of what was determined to be a large, aggressive, malignant brain tumor, he worked long days and attended evening meetings up until the day before he went into the hospital.
“The Town of Fairfield was incredibly lucky to have him as its leader. And our family was beyond blessed,” they said.
Fellow Democrat Selectman Christine Vitale has served as acting first selectman since Gerber went on medical leave following the diagnosis and subsequent surgeries.
Gerber was elected Fairfield’s First Selectman in November 2023. He has lived in Fairfield for almost 30 years with his wife Jessica and their family and has given back to the community through public service and his family’s annual fundraisers for St. Baldrick’s.
He served on the RTM for 10 years. In 2019, he received his master’s degree in public health from George Washington University and fulfilled his practical work requirement with the Fairfield Health Department.
Before graduating from Wesleyan University, he was among the first Western exchange students to attend Beijing University under China’s new Open Door Policy. After returning to the U.S., he earned an MBA in finance and an MS in accounting from the NYU Stern School of Business, and his CPA license while working for a major accounting firm in New York City. That foundation led to a 30-year career in financial services during which Bill traveled and lived all over the world, working for various high-profile companies in senior-level positionsBill and Jessica had three children – John, Teddy, and Gillian. In 2010, their son Teddy became ill with a rare type of cancer and passed away. “Team Teddy Osborn Hill School,” first organized by parents of local Scouts, became the Gerber family’s annual fundraising event, raising more than $1.4 million for pediatric cancer research since 2010.
