Deceased September 8, 2017
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In Memory
Jeff died on Sept. 8 in Akron, Ohio. For the past several years he courageously managed a busy life despite the dual challenges of Parkinson’s disease and lung cancer. Born in Akron, Jeff went to Western Reserve Academy, later serving on its board for nearly 30 years. At Amherst, Jeff majored in economics. He earned an M.B.A. at Case Western Reserve University. While still at Amherst, Jeff joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and after graduate study was called to active duty. After attending OCS at Newport, he became a lieutenant on destroyer duty, including a six-month cruise in the Pacific. At the end of that cruise, he married Kathleen Cullinan, his wife for 55 years, who predeceased him. Jeff is survived by three daughters, a son, four grandchildren and two brothers.
Returning to Akron after the Navy, Jeff began a career in the rubber tire business and in 1978 struck out on his own, purchasing the Chardon Rubber Co. He ran the company with great success for more than 30 years.
Jeff and I met early in our freshman year, when we played on the freshman football team and competed for a share of the 167-pound class as frosh wrestlers. We both pledged Psi U and enjoyed a friendship deepening there and continuing after we graduated. One of our last Amherst exploits was a group “borrowing” of the clapper from the Johnson Chapel tower. In his notes for our 50th reunion book, Jeff claims credit as the instigator of that nefarious plot.
More seriously, Jeff praised the Amherst faculty and our treasured core curriculum for the depth and range of the education that served him so well throughout his life. He remained deeply engaged with the College, never missing a reunion, and meeting often with his Psi U brothers of ’54.
Thomas H. Blackburn ’54