Jeffrey C. Carrico

DOUGLASVILLE, Ga. - It is with great sorrow that we, the family of Jeffrey C. Carrico, 70, of Douglasville, Ga., formerly of Flagstaff, Ariz., and Champaign, announce the passing of our beloved brother, husband, son-in-law, uncle, cousin, colleague and friend on Monday, May 13, 2024, after a courageous 14-month battle with pancreatic cancer.

The kindest, most gentle soul, was born in October 1953, the oldest of five children of Charles Ray and Roberta Ann (Powell) Carrico. After graduating from high school in Washington, Ill., Jeff moved to Champaign, where years later he met and married the love of his life, Nancy Spurgeon, at Holy Cross Catholic Church, in November 1987.

Jeff is survived by his beloved wife of 36 years; brothers, Kent (Carolyn), Mike (Pam) and Steve (Cecelia); a sister, Gina (Larry); a brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Sally (Spurgeon) White; a mother-in-law, Betty Spurgeon; and nieces and nephews, Rebecca, Coy, Allegra, Elena, Natalya, Matthew, Emma, Michelle, Nathaniel and Rachael.

Jeff had a successful career as an academic librarian. He received a bachelor of arts degree from the UI at Urbana-Champaign majoring in economics, accounting and business and began his career in 1994 as a library technical specialist in the acquisitions department at the UI. In 1997, he received a master's degree in Library and Information Science from the UI.

Jeff and Nancy moved to Flagstaff, Ariz., in 1999 so that Jeff could pursue an acquisitions librarian position at the Cline Library at Northern Arizona University. In 2005, Jeff accepted the position of department head, collection acquisitions and management at the library at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, and retiring in December 2019 as an associate dean of the library.

Prior to Jeff's academic career, in his younger days, he worked as a pharmacy technician at McBride's Drugstore and at his dad's business, Sport Print, where local family and friends regularly stopped by to visit for the laughter and noontime card games. Jeff's greatest joy was his family. He loved doting on his wife and dog and playing golf and cards with his siblings and other relatives. Jeff was a researcher, an avid learner and had many interests including traveling, museums, cars, sports, books, movies, science, history, astronomy, space and a deep love of all animals. He loved the challenge of learning how to repair and fix things. His kind and courteous demeanor, sense of humor, holiday traditions and presence will be greatly missed by all who knew him.

A private funeral Mass was held in May 2024 at St. Teresa Catholic Church, Douglasville. Family and friends are welcome to attend a celebration of life for Jeff from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at Papa Del's, Champaign.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites you to donate to PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network).org" target="_new" rel="nofollow">PanCAN (Pancreatic Cancer Action Network).org, the American Cancer Society, ASPCA.org" target="_new" rel="nofollow">ASPCA.org or the charitable organization of your choice.