Link to the Legacy Obituary

~Marc Pullman

Our classmate and good friend, Jeff, has left us way too soon. I reconnected with Jeff after college when we started our working careers in downtown Chicago. At that time, Jeff was managing a large office building and we started a tradition of getting together for lunch. Since Jeff drove to work we were able to frequent our favorite lunch spot--Manny's Deli on Roosevelt Road. 

Jeff was an approachable, stand-up guy who was literally nice all the time. In fact, in the many decades I interacted with Jeff, I never heard him utter a coarse word about anyone. So when I decided to start a business networking group in the Loop Jeff was an obvious choice as one of my first recruits. He was a successful commercial real estate broker who spoke impressively at our meetings with solid business acumen. And extending a helping hand was second nature to Jeff. When I mentioned that I was representing some local artists who were trying to market their work, Jeff volunteered to connect them with new tenants in his building who were looking to decorate their offices. On another occasion, I told Jeff about a client who was trying to start a new business in the real estate market. Months later, I found out from the client that Jeff had volunteered to mentor her. 

Jeff was an exemplar of living life to the fullest. As a maven for fine food he could have easily qualified as a host on the TV show “Check Please!”. He relished the search for new and interesting restaurants. And on his many foreign travels (Africa, Egypt, Asia et al) he delighted in absorbing different cultures and experimenting with unique cuisines. Traveling also provided Jeff an opportunity to demonstrate his skill as a professional caliber photographer. I was one of the lucky friends who received an annual calendar that featured his awesome photographs of exotic places traveled to. Jeff also loved golf and boating. He looked forward to each day as a new adventure. 

Having discovered that our dads were friends from the South Side, we plotted to surprise them by meeting for dinner, the first time at Phil Schmidt's. They had so much fun that we continued to get together when our dads were in their 90s. It brought true joy to them. Jeff managed to get he and his father on an Honor Flight to D.C. His dad told Jeff that the Honor Flight was the most enjoyable experience he had in years. It was especially meaningful because Mr. Bernard passed away just a few days later. Fortunately, he and Jeff were able to share that special last day together. 

Despite the frequency of our social get togethers, I was unaware that Jeff had been fighting cancer for three years. When he called me a couple weeks ago, it struck me that Jeff was calling to say goodbye and that this would be our final conversation. I was honored that he would think of me when his precious time was so limited and I told him so. I did my best to remind him how he had been wonderfully blessed with a great wife and family and that he and Nona excelled at living life to the fullest. I followed the call up with a letter that highlighted our good times together and assured him that, since the goal of life was quality rather than quantity of days, he should take pride in knowing that in life he clearly excelled. 

Although we will miss Jeff dearly, he has blessed his friends and family with a treasure of wonderful memories of good times shared.