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<p>Quiet, unassuming, introverted, unflappable, driven by his passions, and often mysterious are just a few observations that could be used to describe the life and times of <em>Jeffrey Mark “Jeff” Blower</em>. A “really nice guy” who very few every really got to know, Jeff rarely opened his mouth and, when questioned about why he seldom spoke, he always replied, “I don’t have nothing to say.” Fortunately, he never said that to an English “P,” or it surely would have cost him a tenth for grammar.</p>
<p>Jeff was born in East Liverpool, OH on November 26, 1956, the only child of Everett (a steelworker) and Marilyn Blower. He grew up in both Pennsylvania and West Virginia before graduating from Oak Glen High School in New Cumberland, WV, where he was a varsity wrestler and Boys State participant. Jeff entered West Point from Chester, WV, having received an appointment from longtime U.S. Senator Robert Byrd.</p>
<p>At West Point, Jeff was initially assigned to Company H-4 but was reassigned to Company F-1 during the 1976 reorganization. Jeff and I spent our final two years at West Point living in Company F-1, where we shared more than a few pinochle games with our classmates in the company dayroom. During his time in F-1, Jeff earned the nickname “Captain Video” for his almost constant presence in front of the dayroom television. As soon as the academic year began in September 1976, Jeff staked a claim to the most comfortable easy chair he could find and did not relinquish his seat until graduation in June 1978. He was a constant fixture in front of the TV. Programming choices were generally approved through him, and he was the consummate multitasker, completing all his homework and studies while simultaneously catching up on sports and sitcoms. He eventually joined our pinochle group, but only after we agreed to give him the seat that faced the TV so he wouldn’t miss anything. I am relatively sure that following our graduation in 1978, Jeff’s chair was either retired or thrown out since it was totally worn out and permanently indented with an outline of his body. </p>
<p>During Branch Selection in Thayer Hall, Jeff chose Armor and was subsequently assigned to the 5-33rd Armor Regiment, 194th Brigade at Fort Knox, KY. His Army career ended in 1980 when he resigned his commission and returned to New Cumberland. It was there that he met the love of his life, Sharon, while working as a bouncer in a local bar. They were married in 1984, bought a house, and lived there until they both passed in 2011. </p>
<p>Jeff’s sister-in-law, Donna Shook, shared with me that she felt Jeff was “perfect for my sister” and the two loved each other deeply. Each year, on their anniversary, the couple would take a trip to Sharon’s favorite jewelry store in Ohio, where she would choose a special ring or bracelet, always adorned with diamonds and sapphires. She wore these gifts from Jeff constantly and chose to be interred with them as well.</p>
<p>Sharon and Jeff kept to themselves over the years, seldom socialized outside work, and Jeff continued his avid love of television, with a particular affinity for the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. While Jeff never showed any lasting interest for computer flow charts and punch cards at West Point, he and Sharon could both be classified as “computer geeks.” Sharon managed a marketing company that designed webpages and advertising for nursing homes, and Jeff became an information technology guru at Union Switch and Signal, where he worked for over 20 years. Donna believes that Jeff, a quiet introvert, loved computers because he found an outlet where he could communicate freely without having to speak face-to-face.</p>
<p>Jeff’s prowess for IT caught the attention of Troy Baer, Class of 1987, who cajoled him into service in 2001 as the West Point Society of Western Pennsylvania’s webmaster, a position he held until he passed. From a modest webpage, Jeff created “one of the best small organization websites” that Troy had ever seen.</p>
<p>After Sharon and Jeff passed in 2011, Donna became the executor of their estates. She was amazed at the collection of computers, textbooks, and programming guides (notably Fortran and COBOL) that they had acquired and kept over the years. Clearly, information technology was a passion that they shared together and a skill in which Jeff became extremely proficient. Donna also discovered that Jeff was an avid collector of comic books as a teenager, and he had amassed stacks of the original Batman, Spiderman, and Superman comics, all of which had been well worn from use.</p>
<p>Throughout his life, Jeff Blower remained a “man of mystery,” a really nice guy with very little to say, who rarely shared his past or even his immediate thoughts and opinions. He lived a simple life, contributed where his talents were useful, and remained wedded to his West Virginia roots. Throughout it all, his passion for television, comic books, and computers remained a guiding light. As his classmates, we may have lost touch with Jeff over the years, but we were all saddened to learn of his premature death from cancer on October 17, 2011, an unfortunate result of another passion that he cherished deeply—his cigarettes. We will miss this gentleman, his dry sense of humor, his calm demeanor, and his admirable willingness to remain silent when he didn’t have anything he deemed important enough to share.</p>
<p><em>— Mike Berendt and Donna Shook</em></p>
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