Venture capitalist Jerome Contro has passed away, leaving behind stunned and saddened colleagues at Crosslink Capital.

Jerome joined Crosslink in 2008 as a general partner and chief operating officer, after previously holding roles at both Tango and Nuveen Investments. With Crosslink, he served on the boards of both peer-to-peer marketplace Prosper and enterprise analytics company Global Analytics. Contro took that latter seat when fellow Crosslink partner Peter Rip passed away in 2010.

“I am deeply saddened at the passing of my friend and partner Jerome Contro,” says Isabelle Fymat, a general partner with Crosslink Capital. “He battled his illness bravely and during his time at Crosslink has served our investors and employees with enthusiasm and dignity. He will be greatly missed by all of us.”

Jerome was one of those venture capitalists who regularly responded to my email columns, particularly ones that dealt with how venture capital firms are managed. Smart, insightful and pleasant — even when he strongly disagreed. He will be missed.

We will update this post when memorial information becomes available.