Jeff Benjamin

On July 10, 2024—long before he should have, way too soon—Jeff Benjamin left us. Fortunately, those who knew & loved Jeff have both the impact of his life and our memories to sustain us. It’s a rich trove of comforts, but there’s a great emptiness that comes with the loss of his presence.

Loving husband to Frannie, proud & supportive father of Madeleine, Lydia, & Lilah, son of Ina & Larry, brother of Sheryl, Jeff was an expert software engineer, talented and passionate musician and music fan, transplanted (but never fully converted) New Yorker, brilliant mind, and extraordinarily generous soul: while accurate, these labels do not capture the man fully.

Jeff went to the University of North Texas and earned a degree in Jazz Arranging, broadening his horizons as a musician. It was there that he met and fell in love with Frannie. Potential opposites in some ways—Frannie majored in clothing & textiles, and Jeff thought sweatpants and a t-shirt were the height of sartorial splendor—they found common ground in each other and what their love could be. They soon got married and started to build their family, blessed with three daughters: Madeleine, Lydia, & Lilah. Jeff was a devoted husband and father who put his family first—always.

In 2003, Jeff earned a job at his dream company, Apple. This truly was a perfect role for him, given that he loved Apple before it was cool and even started working there before the iPhone. During his time, he became Jeff “Freakin” Benjamin (a title coined by his daughters), an integral member of the software development team, so much so that they were supportive of his long-distance arrangement with Frannie when she and the girls moved from California to Ohio. As Jeff liked to say, he “embraced the suck” in both the long-distance arrangement and in his role, which frequently required him to work at odd hours of the night. If one asked Jeff how he managed the time away from his wife & daughters and the stresses that came with it, one was likely to hear a response like, “Hey, it’s what I do. It’s what my family needs.” Simple words made profound in this context.

An unwavering moral compass was part of Jeff’s identity. Friends and family counted on him. In recent years, Jeff applied his commitment, curiosity, and energy to learning how to make himself healthier, and he was profoundly successful. Jeff became a trusted voice for many who are on their own personal health journeys through online groups. As he effectively overhauled his approach to taking care of himself, Jeff also took care of a lot of other people–strangers whose paths were in some way like his own. Here, too, Jeff’s compass would have him say that he was simply doing what he should do–because it was right and because he could.

Jeff had recently reached retirement and was looking forward to spending his golden years with his wife, Frannie. He had planned for a retirement filled with biking, meeting many of the people from his online groups, and traveling all over the country & world with Frannie. In a cruel twist of fate, Jeff suffered a bike accident, complications of which led to his untimely death.

As mentioned, music was a major part of Jeff’s life. Many who knew him are sure to be reminded of Jeff when a certain song comes on the radio. Those who loved him should listen for those songs, should sing along, and remember a truly extraordinary man. And we should smile. To paraphrase the lyrics of a great song by a favorite band (Jeff’s beloved English Beat), we will hear love thumping at the doors of our hearts, and we’ll know it’s Jeff. And he’ll already be inside.

A celebration of life will be held on August 12th from 1PM-5PM at Old Bag of Nails in Westerville, Ohio. Please arrive at 1PM with program to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Girls Inc. of Orange County, where Jeff’s daughter works, or Wezmore, a dear friend’s nonprofit. More information can be found at the links below.

https://www.girlsinc-oc.org/support/donate-now/

https://www.wezmore.com/donate