When I shook Jeff Bierig’s hand at the June PCC lunch meeting, I never imagined it would be for the last time. He looked great, and we all thought he had beaten a terrible disease. But it was not to be. A real mensch passed. I had known Jeff since we were in the same classes at UIC and we even did projects together. Despite the fact that public relations wasn’t even taught at UIC back then, we both went into the field.
We also both devoted our time and resources to PCC and we both served as multi-term presidents — as a team for two terms. Jeff was always ready to lend a hand. He was a pro all the way. For those of you who knew Jeff, we will miss his sense of humor and class. If you didn’t know Jeff, you missed knowing a truly terrific human being.
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David Brimm is president of BrimmComm, Inc., a full-service public relations and marketing communications firm.
Thanks, Dave. Jeff sure taught us all how to live and love and laugh. And a little bit about golf.
I still can’t believe it. He was a wonderful colleague, so talented and kind. Farewell, friend.
My blog post offers a better tribute to Jeff than what I’ll write here. I just learned via LinkedIn (thanks, Steve Handwerker for sharing the news); so sorry I’m late to share in the memories, you guys.
You know how you gravitate to old stomping grounds to commiserate? Sitting alone with my PC and searches and Jeff’s booming voice in my head is not fun. I’m so sad we’ve lost our dear friend and colleague.
Jeff was a class act. He always joked, even when he was in the midst of adversity, and make all around him feel important and good about themselves. He will be sorely missed!
I just returned from a 2-week vacation and just saw the news about Jeff’s passing. I am deeply saddened. jeff was the consummate professional and spent many, many tireless hours giving back to the Chicago PR community.