Wednesday, September 11, 2024
Sharon asked me to speak at Jeff's service, but I am not that tough. We met at the Junction Drive Inn parking lot the winter of 78 during a break from the ritual cruising of the St.Maries steets on the weekends back then and became fast friends. Jeff had a bunch of wildly painted hotrods including a KRIETERIZED jeep pickup, Charger and Nova that he loved to show off. He had a personality that was as big and unique as his paint jobs and toys. He loved to MODIFICATE stuff to make it better, cooler and stronger than it was when he found it. This extended from automobiles, ATVs, buildings and structures to wood burls or stumps that he would pack home from his trips to the mountain forests. He was an avid reader with total recall of interesting facts and knowledge like a 1970's GOOGLE search engine. So he was constantly bestowing this information on us young ones whenever the occasion would present itself. We were never bored when Jeff was involved, he always had great stories to share on breaks from work or play. We put thousands of miles on our ATVs together, built lots of great projects, butchered hundreds of pounds of meat, drank gallons of alcohol while consuming fresh cooked tenderloins, sausage, shared great visits, good times and adventures. Jeff was a powerful man with the constitution of a bull, if he could not lift it, he knew how to figure a lever or method to make heavy stuff get from here to there. Because his parents died young, he always had the delusion that he would too. But Dr.Tuck and sister Nita talked him out of that mindset. If it were not for his distructive habits that he imersed himself in, he had the constitution and physical make up to live to be an old timer. He changed his habits and it was miraculous. For the first 40 years of our friendship Jeff was like the vice president of the HE - MAN WOMAN HATERS CLUB except for his mom, sisters, nieces, DR.Tuck, a few girl friends and was uncomfortable in crowds. That all ended when he reunited after 40 years with the first love of his life and divorced wife, Sharon. Jeff gained a new lease on life, had peace in his heart and died with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye. Thanks for the great memories GREAT ONE, you made a positive difference, you will be missed, GOD bless you my friend.
