Jeffrey Keith Wagar, age 64, succumbed to the ravages of ALS on January 2, 2021 in Mandeville, Louisiana. He passed away peacefully in the company of his family after a lengthy, bitter struggle with this dread disease he fought with stoic and remarkable courage over the last year of his life. His remains will be interred at Oakwood Cemetery in Troy, New York, next to his father, Bill Wagar, his mother, Cynthia, his grandparents, Carrie and Isaac Fortanier, and many other ancestors. Jeffrey was born in Glens Falls, New York on June 5, 1956, the second of four children, all of whom survive him. He grew up in Glens Falls and the nearby Adirondacks where he had a remarkably idyllic childhood and adolescence. He attended Glens Falls Senior High School from which he graduated in 1974. Jeffrey was an outstanding student there with a brilliant mind and had many friends. He attended McGill University in Montreal as an international student, from which he graduated in 1978 with a bachelor's degree in Commerce. He made friends and acquaintances there with fellow students from all over the world. Jeffrey never married nor had children of his own, and in some ways marched to the beat of an unseen drummer. He was an individualist but deeply and always devoted to his family, especially the younger generation. A deep thinker with a profound, discerning, extraordinary intelligence, his gift was concealed behind a shy, diffident personality. He loved exploring and traveled widely in his own country, Europe and Asia and savored other cultures and experiences. After college, Jeffrey soon found his calling in the dawning digital age in computers, programming, troubleshooting and consulting; a passion and vocation he pursued to the end of his life. He formed a partnership in computer consulting and sales of innovative software with his father with whom he lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until 1996 when he joined his older brother, Chip, in New Orleans to organize the IT network of his new law firm. He remained a consultant with the law firm for many years but also with a number of other local clients until his semi-retirement in 2017 and relocation to New York City where he remained until his illness forced his return to Mandeville to the care of his brother. Jeffrey was a gentle, affable soul to all who knew him with limitless empathy and patience for the needs, cares and interests of others. He was selflessly generous to a fault with his time and his money, spending almost nothing on himself. He was an avid triathlete and was often seen on his US Olympic Team speed bicycle on the streets of New Orleans and New York City, exploring and enjoying the pleasures of his bicycle. Jeffrey was a beloved son, brother, cousin and above all, uncle to his nieces and nephews. His premature death has extinguished a bright light that illuminated the lives of his family and friends who deeply grieve his untimely loss. As the wizard told the Tin Woodman, so it can be said of Jeffrey: "A heart is not judged by how much you love, but by how much you are loved by others ..." Jeffrey was well-loved. Jeffrey Wagar is survived by his brothers, Nelson "Chip" Wagar of Mandeville, David Wagar of Columbus, Ohio, and a sister, Caroline Wagar Wilson of Silver Spring, Maryland, as well as five nephews and nieces and two grandnephews: William Wagar and Sarah Wagar Hickman of Mandeville, Louisiana, Anna Wilson of Lake Lanier, Georgia, Flint and Holt Wagar of Columbus, Ohio, and Grady and Fisher Hickman, also of Mandeville, Louisiana. An online guestbook is available at www.gracenorthshore.com.
SHARE OBITUARY
v.1.8.18