738 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 79 PART 5 SEPTEMBER 2021
Jeff’s enthusiasm for hockey also intersected with his analytical skills.
He spent countless delightful hours debating trades, statistics, drafting, etc.
He attended many Vancouver Giants games and became a season ticket
holder for Canucks games. Numerous friends and colleagues (and clients
when that was permitted) were the beneficiaries of Jeff’s hockey enthusiasm
and extra ticket. He enjoyed attending events like the NHL Entry Draft
and other hockey events such as season ticket holder receptions. He developed
a keen eye at silent auctions for autographed jerseys of hockey heroes
and accumulated a substantial and impressive collection during his adventures
at Giants and Canucks games.
Jeff, like many young people of his era, developed a passionate interest
in video games. This started as a youth but continued right up to his passing
at age 53. Apparently, there was a genetic link, as Jeff spent many happy
hours gaming online with his septuagenarian mother, Sharyn, and his sister,
Kylie. He particularly liked complex adventure games, in which he could
totally immerse himself and challenge his big brain. As with his other hobbies,
he enjoyed sharing thoughts and strategies about these games with his
friends and family.
In the weeks following Jeff’s untimely passing, the firm was inundated
by e-mails, cards, phone calls and letters from clients, opposing counsel and
experts who sang Jeff’s praises and lamented his loss. They were uniform
in their assessment of Jeff as not only an outstanding lawyer and a worthy
adversary, but also a wonderful human being.
Jeff described himself as being an accidental lawyer. Thanks to his
remarkable intelligence, he would have been successful in any one of the
other jobs or careers he tried before law. He was very down to earth about
being a lawyer—it was something he did incredibly well, but it did not define
him. What really defined him were his laugh, his wit, his kindness, his playfulness,
his quirky love of cats, his love for hockey, fishing and video games
and above all his love and compassion for his friends and family and his
tremendous capacity to be his wonderful self in all its uniqueness.
All of us at Pacific Law Group will remember with intense fondness Jeff’s
wonderful laugh, so infectious and ubiquitous. Our office will never be the
same without him. His family and friends are fortunate to have had him for
the time we did, but saddened beyond measure by his untimely loss.
As Abraham Lincoln once said: In the end, it’s not the years in your life
that count. It’s the life in your years. By any measure, Jeff packed a lot into
his 53 years. Son, sibling, outdoorsman, philosopher, lawyer and, for everyone,
friend.
Kenneth Serné and Kerry Grieve