Jeffrey Alexander SCHACKOR

1951 - 2020

Of Mahtomedi Died with family by his side on 7/24/20 after an unwavering 5-year battle with cancer. Jeff was born in Minneapolis on 2/18/1951, and lived an accomplished life as a teller of bad jokes, enthusiastic supporter of the Minnesota Twins, wicked player of blackjack, voracious reader, lover of Disney and avid fan of all things historical, especially planes. Like so many, he wanted to be a good golfer. Jeff was preceded in death by his parents William and Joyce Schackor. Surviving Jeff are his wife of 29 years Mary (Eret); daughters Katy (Chris) Brown of Phoenix, AZ and Callan Schackor of Minneapolis; sister Andrea (Don) Taylor of Houston, TX; nephews Jordan (Gina) Lerbs of Houston and Terran Schackor of Los Angeles, CA. He was an intelligent man, his education fostered at Osseo High School (1969), University of MN (BA in Child Psychology 1973), and the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business (MBA in Health Care Management 1978). Throughout his life, Jeff was actively involved with the fraternal associations of DeMoley, Masons and Shriners, serving as the State Master Councilor in 1970 and most recently on the Board of Directors for Shriners Hospital. During his 35-year career in health care management, Jeff's approach to creating solutions was to focus on patient care, management and operations functionality and staff satisfaction. He implemented this approach as a consultant at Strategicare and through his work with clients at HealthLink Minnesota, a company he formed in 1997 with his friend and business partner. Jeff had several life-long associations with his clients, including Minnesota Oncology. This speaks to his integrity and thoughtfulness and the strong relationships he developed and maintained over the years. After the sale of HealthLink Minnesota, Jeff ran the clinical operations of Lake Region HealthCare until his retirement in 2017. As a member of several committees, Jeff was especially proud to serve on the Angel Foundation Board and the City of Mahtomedi Planning Commission. Jeff's reward for working hard was to travel with Mary and their group of travel companions. "The next trip" was always in the works and he was the consummate vacation planner. Countless hours were spent researching unique opportunities to make each trip more interesting, all of it ending in color-coordinated spreadsheets for the group. As a father, Jeff was incredibly proud of Katy and Callan. He taught them to love Lebanese food, appreciate the value of education, drive a stick shift in his beloved 1990 Miata, and acknowledge that the best stocking stuffer is a scratch-off ticket. The family is extremely grateful to the staff at Minnesota Oncology for their dedication to Jeff's care throughout his cancer treatment. Memorials are preferred to Angel Foundation or Shriners Hospital in Jeff's name. Due to COVID-19, a service will be scheduled at a later date. "Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth…put out my hand, and touched the face of God." John Gilespie Magee, Jr. ( High Flight, Jeff's favorite poem).