Saturday, December 14, 2019
I was saddened to read about Jeff. My sister, Kathy, happened upon his obituary by chance. Jeff's house and mine were directly across the street from each other and were two of the first houses built in what was previously a filbert orchard just off of Lancaster Dr. in Salem.
Though my memory of those years are sketchy, the timeline would suggest that Jeff and I first met when he was around 4 years old and I was around 7. We grew up in the same neighborhood together and did what most neighbor kids did; from playing softball in a vacant lot at the end of Judy Ave., to playing basketball in my driveway, sometimes into the night under lights, probably to the consternation of our other neighbors.
After some college and serving in the Navy myself, I moved to Bend in 1975 and lost touch with Jeff though my parents still lived in the Judy Ave. house well into the 1980's.
One other thing I would like to mention: When Jeff's father, Walt, passed away, Jeff's mother, Berdene, gave me Walt's left handed bowling ball as I too am left handed. I still have the ball and on those rare occasions when I go bowling I use Walt's ball. The reason I bring this up is that I would be more than willing to return Walt's bowling ball to any of his children or grandchildren who might want it. At my age, I would be wise to probably switch to a lighter ball anyway. If interested, you can contact me at glenn@raaen.com.
Once again, my condolences to the Perkins family. Jeff was a good friend growing up.
