Jeffrey Westfall

1948 - 2020

Jeffrey Nicholas Westfall
May 21, 1948 - December 6, 2020
Jeffrey Nicholas Westfall, 72, died of symptoms of ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) on December 6, 2020 at his home in Bluffton, South Carolina. He is survived by the love of his life, his best friend and wife, Ginne. He also is survived by his mother, Lillian Neal.

Jeff was intelligent, clever, charming, thoughtful. He loved to tell jokes and funny stories (and he had a lot of them!). He was a committed Democrat, and believed strongly in equal rights for all. He supported Black Lives Matter, Amnesty International, Southern Poverty Law Center, and many other such organizations. He loved sailing, Dodgers baseball, ballet performances, the Rolling Stones (particularly Keith), Walt Whitman, Sankai Juku, historical novels, daffodils, and the three cats with whom he lived (Woody, Dashiell and Arthur).

As a young child, Jeff was accepted into the choir school of Saint John the Divine Cathedral in New York City. He often spoke of this time with great affection and happiness. He had a beautiful - and LOUD! - voice. Often, he would sing along with the radio until ALS began ravaging his voice.

Jeff received a full scholarship to attend Hobart College in Geneva, New York where he received his English degree. Following college, he traveled around the USA, having fun until he decided he'd like to go to the Writers' Workshop in Iowa City. Of course, he got accepted. While there, he became a student teacher and he realized how much he enjoyed teaching and that he had a natural talent for it. Students loved him and his sometime crazy teaching methods. If they looked bored, he'd occasionally jump up on his desk. That usually got their attention! He really wanted every last one of the students to succeed, and he would work tirelessly to help them achieve their goals. It was also there in Iowa that he learned to sail a boat and it became one of his passions. In the 90s, he moved to Dallas, Texas and taught part-time at several community colleges. He didn't much like the culture there and began looking around for other teaching options.

He was offered and accepted a position in the English Department of Skyline College in San Bruno, California. He felt he did his most creative and best teaching there and many of his students continued on to first-rate universities. Jeff was tough, but always caring and his students recognized and responded.

In 2001, he met his future wife Ginne in San Francisco. It was love at first sight. In 2002, they got married and in 2003, they moved to a little dream house down the coast in Montara. They adored one another. They had the same sense of humor, many of the same interests, and they balanced each other perfectly. They did everything together - food shop, clean house, buy a new sofa, take care of the dog and the cats. Whatever was going on, Jeff always wanted to be included and, throughout their marriage, they spent only 4 days apart. They loved living in between San Francisco and San Jose, and took good advantage of the entertainment and arts that each city offered. They were always going to plays, ballets, music events. They had many friends and loved having company.

In 2013, once they were both retired, they moved to a house they had purchased 8 years earlier in Bluffton, SC where the cost of living is significantly lower than the very expensive Bay Area. This enabled them to travel and travel they did! Polar bears in Churchill, penguins in Antarctica, the Moai (heads) on Easter Island, blue-footed boobies in Galapagos, Machu Picchu, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and on and on. Their last trip was to St. Moritz and the Swiss Alps and Jeff particularly loved being in all that snow.

As he requested, Jeff will be cremated and there will be no funeral service. When/if Covid-19 ever goes away, there will be an "Affirmation of Life" event in San Francisco, but only time will tell when that might be possible. If you would like to make a donation in Jeff's name, it should be to the ALS Foundation or Best Friends, his favorite animal organization.