July 2020
When he was a department store manager and busy father of four, Jeff Jefcoat often found time to engage in various civic and community activities. Retirement opened up even more such opportunities.
“He was a servant leader for a long, long time,” said his son Doug Jefcoat. Indeed, through service clubs, governmental committees, his church, meal deliveries to seniors, and by serving on a town council, Jeff made a difference in the communities in which he lived.
After Jeff and his wife, Jean, began motorhoming, they became active in FMCA. “It was a really nice fit,” Doug said, “because it allowed (Jeff) to continue exercising his leadership skills with an organization that he truly fell in love with.”
Deavours H. “Jeff” Jefcoat, L118344, served as FMCA national president from 2001 to 2003. He died April 11, 2020, at his home in Little Mountain, South Carolina, at age 91.
He was FMCA national senior vice president from 2000 to 2001. Before that, he was national vice president, Eastern Area, from 1996 to 2000. He also served on various FMCA committees.
“Jeff was a good man. He was a very dedicated guy, there’s no question about it,” said William Gowen, who in the 1990s served as FMCA national treasurer and national vice president, Northeast Area. He described Jeff as “a Southern gentleman.”
In 1947 Jeff began what would be a 40-year career with Sears, interrupted for a time by his service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. During his last 14 years at Sears, Jeff managed stores in Columbia, South Carolina.
Jeff Jefcoat, FMCA national president from 2001 to 2003, loved to travel with his wife, Jean.
While working at a Sears store in Laurel, Mississippi, he met his future wife. Jean, who worked at the nearby courthouse, routinely would walk through the store or stop at the snack bar, which gave Jeff a chance to introduce himself. The Jefcoats were married 64 years and had four children. Jean died in 2013, and their son Sam died in 2017.
During Jeff’s years with Sears, the family didn’t take long trips or do much camping, aside from occasionally pitching a tent. Jeff and Jean had other ideas once he retired. “I think my brothers and my sister and I were totally shocked when we learned Mom and Dad bought a motorhome and were planning on traveling,” Doug said. “We all kind of looked at each other and said, ‘Who are these people?’”
The couple, it turned out, enjoyed motorhoming immensely. “They were traveling together and seeing different parts of the country and meeting different people. It was some of the happiest years of their lives,” Doug said.
The Jefcoats traveled by motorhome to all 48 contiguous states, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. Their favorite trips, Doug said, were those in which they took along one of their nine grandchildren.
Jeff loved attending FMCA conventions, and as the organization’s president, he wasn’t fazed by complications caused by weather or logistics. “He always enjoyed the process of working through those challenges,” Doug said.
During his tenure as president, Jeff prioritized membership growth and he encouraged FMCA members to spread the word about the organization. He also focused on the issue of motorhome quality, a topic he discussed with key manufacturers at the 2001 RV Industry Association trade show. The following year, FMCA’s Commercial Council formed a subcommittee that surveyed members about customer satisfaction. Also during Jeff’s term, FMCA added the Passport America discount camping benefit. And FMCA members discovered, by reading his magazine columns and talking with him at events, that he was a gifted storyteller.
Hollis Dick and his wife, Barbara, are FMCA members who were close friends with the Jefcoats and frequently traveled with them. Mr. Dick said Jeff was a fair-minded person, which served him well as FMCA president. “There were no winners and losers with Jeff,” he said.
Doug Jefcoat agreed. “He was a good coalition builder. He recognized that to get things done, it can’t be 100 percent one way or 100 percent another way. Sometimes there’s got to be a melding of ideas. He was very good at that.”
That frame of mind not only was beneficial when Jeff dealt with FMCA matters but also when he served on the Little Mountain town council for eight years, as well as on several Newberry County governmental committees.
Through their travels and affiliation with FMCA, Jeff and Jean enjoyed meeting many people.
“They developed some amazing friendships all over the country,” Doug said. “Even after their traveling days ended, and after my mom passed away, my dad kept in touch with many FMCA members, from California to Florida to Illinois. I was always hearing FMCA stories in conversations. The organization was part of his life until he passed away.”
Survivors include his daughter, Pam; sons Mike and Doug; nine grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Memorials can be made to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church Building Fund, P.O. Box 186, Little Mountain, SC 29075.