Schmidt, Jeffrey J

Jeff noticed a completely lost new-hire at Bancroft Whitney who hardly knew where the bathroom was trying to figure out how to find something in Bancroft’s library. It was evening, most people had gone home, Jeff had work of his own to do. He put down his armload of books and immediately said, “Tell me what you’re looking for, I’ll help you find it.” And he did, spending the next half hour showing me where to find everything I needed. A tiny gesture, but the new-hire still remembers it 29 years later. Typical of Jeff that he took time to help. And to help an unimportant person, no politics or personal gain at all. Just a very decent, kind guy. Jeff was unassuming, quiet, in some ways came across as almost the quintessential midwesterner (in a good sense); the kind of person who just helped other people without expecting anything in return. But he had an acerbic sense of humor - I remember how funny he was at the lunch table and at parties. And he had no illusions about anything. Like so many others, you were taken way too soon, Jeff. When I see a new person looking lost at work, I try to help, and think of you.