Pelletier grew-up in Glendale Heights, Illinois and still resides there. He graduated from Glenbard North High School in 1974. He played sixteen-inch softball in the park district with the Pirates and later with the Stray Cats. He worked in various park districts for six years as a scheduler and umpire before staring his career as an umpire in Major Softball. He officiated at the Clyde Park “A” Leagues from 1994 to 1996 and then in the televised Bensenville / Forest Park Pro League from 1996 to 1998. Jerome umpired two finals in the Hawthorne “A” Classic (1995 – 1997), four finals in the USSSA Nationals (1990 – 1994), three finals (two Major and one “A” final) in the Grant Park Classic (1994 to 1997), and eight finals at the Forest Park “No Glove” Nationals (1990 to 1999). He has always treated managers and players with the highest respect. It did not matter if it was a nail-biting one-run game or a runaway twenty run victory, what mattered most was the mutual respect shared between the umpire and the opposing teams. Besides umpiring sixteen-inch softball games, Jerome has officiated high school basketball for twentytwo years. In 2013 he officiated the girl’s state final basketball game. He has been employed as a maintenance mechanic and data wire technician for Spraying Systems for twentynine years. He has also served as a part-time firefighter / EMT for the Glenside Fire Protection District for thirty-four years. Jerome and his wife of thirty-two years, Pat, have two daughters – Allison and Lindsay.
