Support Jeff's Family Through Their Loss

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am 26 years old and this page is for my beloved dad Jeff. I'm the oldest girl of the 3 siblings he and my mother had together.

He passed away yesterday, April 27th at noon after battling in the ICU for 18 days. My dad was only 64 years old.

Last month my dad had a scheduled open heart surgery for an aneurysm on his aorta. It was successfully done and he was home healing. On April 9th, the day after my mother's birthday, he thought he was having a heart attack and called me to help. He was in incredible pain and was rushed to the hospital by the ambulance. They discovered his aorta collapsed and tore open from the ascending to descending. He was rushed into emergency surgery for 8 hours. This surgery for an aortic dissection only gave him a 1 in 3 chance of surviving. The amazing doctors did everything they could and he survived the surgery. We were all so relieved because he got through the hardest part and would continue to live a happy life. But after 3 days of struggling in the ICU he was placed on the ventilator and in a medically induced coma. We trusted the machines to help him recover. But he received 10 pints of blood during the surgery which damaged his lungs. Through his life of being a mechanic he always had bad lungs, so we figured it could be fixed by the machines.

He eventually went on dialysis as well with the ventilator because his kidneys were failing. Everyday we would visit him and stay by his side, talking about the day and what was happening at home even though he was out of it. The month was extremely hard while we waited for him to recover. He was in the ICU for 18 days and eventually he went on the ECMO machine because the ventilator was failing. We had faith this machine would help him recover. We missed him dearly because he couldn't talk back to us when we visited. After a day on the ECMO machine, the doctors told us the machines won't help him anymore. His lungs were too far gone from the surgery. We all rushed to the hospital to see him that day and we decided to stop the life support because it wasn't helping him anymore. For an hour we watched him fade away and Peacefully pass under the coma.

I've never cried so much in my life and watched my remaining family breakdown as well. We all loved my dad so much and never wanted to think of the day this would come. His birthday is next month , May 13th. I told him he can't leave us yet because his birthday was coming too. But his body gave up and had other plans.

My dad was an avid historian and mechanic. He loved old cars and muscle cars. As a little kid he taught me how to ride a motorcycle because he used to race motor cross. He was always doing something around the house. He was such a friendly guy and made so many friends during his life as well.

I was always a left hand to my dad because we would both put our heads together to solve stuff or do work. Now there's so much unfinished work we can't do without him. So much we have to learn by ourselves now. This page will help us with the financial burden of the funeral and anything is so deeply appreciated.

Losing a parent for the first time is the worst thing I'll ever go through and anyone for the fact. These funds will cover the entire funeral cost and his cremation along with the few keepsakes for his ashes. We decided we wanted to keep him with us everyday forever. He always wanted to travel so I will fulfill that with my necklace of his ashes.

We always will love you dad, if love couldve saved you , you'd still be here and more.

For our family and friends, our funeral will be at Bekavac funeral home in Elizabeth PA 15037 from 3-7 pm on April 30th.

Rest in peace Jeffrey (Rufus) , Dad

You'll never have to suffer this pain again.