In Memory of Jeff Medkeff, 1968 - 2008

In Memory

At the August 15, 2008 HAC meeting, Dave Healy delivered a eulogy in memory of Jeff Medkeff, who died on August 3. The text is transcribed here, as follows:

I’d like to say a few words about Jeff, past president of the Huachuca Astronomy Club, who died earlier this month at age 39 from complications following his liver cancer. He was an entirely remarkable guy, and I think the fact that we are sitting here tonight as members of the Huachuca Astronomy Club is thanks to Jeff because he rescued the club from certain demise, I think.

To understand this I have to take you back to one of our meetings in the mid-nineties. There were five of us maybe, and the length of the meeting was maybe forty-five minutes, of which forty minutes was spent discussing the details of the club T-shirt. There was no presentation, and there was no speaker. Jeff and I disagreed on this, but I believe that the paid membership of the club had shrunk to two, but Jeff disagreed and claimed that there were four paid members at the time.

Jeff revived the club. He recruited new members, he brought back fallen-away members, like myself, he invited speakers, he got presentations, show-and-tells, and he revitalized the club in every way. Most importantly, he made it a social occasion by redoing the format of the meeting, adding refreshments and the long breaks so that people got to know one another on a social basis, not just on an astronomy basis.

Why did he do this? I think for Jeff the astronomy club, at least in his case, was home. His club in Akron, Ohio was a refuge from his home situation, and that really was the only place that people were nice to him—and he got to learn something. The less said about Jeff’s home life, the better. As a kid, a geeky kid, his parents split up and had a reverse-custody battle over who had to take responsibility for Jeff. So he was a remarkable individual. He had a genius IQ—173, I think, and if you combine the genius IQ with a home background like Jeff’s, you can just see that here is a guy that is not always that easy to get along with.

He was always right; he had to be right. As a matter of fact, I think looking back on it, he always was right. (Except for that one time where he was wrong about overestimating the number of paid club members.) But, Jeff was a doer, a facilitator, someone who puts things together and makes things happen.

I think it was a privilege for those of us who got to know him, and he will be deeply missed. Let’s have a moment of silence.

Jeff Medkeff Links


Jeff's Blue Collar Scientist Blog

Jeffrey S. Medkeff — Wikipedia Entry

Jeff Medkeff — Photography

Alaska Star Story, Feb. 16, 2006

Jeff, you are now with the stars that you yearned to measure. High flight, my friend, beyond the photons.