Jeff Spahn, Sr.
November 25, 1935 ~ January 28, 2019
Jeff Spahn, Sr., 83, Retired OSHA Area Director, died Monday, January 28, 2019. Preceded in death by his parents, Paul Spahn and Ruth Bowers; brother, P. Norm Spahn; step-grandson, Ian Conner. Survived by his wife, Margaret Spahn; son, Jeff (Jennifer) Spahn Jr.of Wichita; daughters, Shelly Spahn of Grove, OK, Stacey (Mark) Evans of Wichita; step-daughters, Cathy (Mark) Bontrager of Arlington, VA, Laurie (Steve) Conner of Wichita; brother, Graham (Dorothy) Spahn of Mossyrock, WA; 9 grandchildren; 6 great-grandchildren. Jeff served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves. He was a life-long Nebraska football fan, an avid traveler of the United States, and enjoyed woodcarving, nature, and spending time with family. Memorials have been established with: Kansas Honor Flight and the Kansas Humane Society. Memorial Celebration will be at 10:00 am, Saturday, February 9, 2019, at Downing & Lahey East Mortuary, 6555 E Central, Wichita, KS.
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I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family of Jeff. May the God of all comfort be with you all during this difficult time.
Margaret and Family – Deepest Sympathy. I worked with Jeff in Omaha and in Wichita. He was a strong leader. I learned so much from him. He was so proud of his family. Love + Prayers, judy + gary
Im sorry to hear of Jeffs passing. Ive worked with him for decades. Till we meet again, Jeff. Prayers of sympathies for the family.
As the days and weeks pass, and as you return to lifes routine, may you continue to feel comforted by the love and support of family and friends help you through all your grief and difficult times. Ps 116:15
I am so sad & shocked. You came to Genesis & made our lifes so special. I looked forward to our morning conversations as you were biking or stretching or at Panera. I loved our time as well did my clients. I will miss you .
Rest Jeff, until you hear at dawn,
the low, clear reveille of God.
Thank you for your service to this nation.
Dear Margaret, Jeff Spahn Jr. and family
I want to express to you all, my deepest sympathies of Jeffs passing. I worked with Jeff at OSHA until his retirement. In fact, Jeff hired me. I was living in Madison, Wisconsin in 1991 when I applied for the OSHA Industrial Hygiene position in Wichita. Jeff called me up one day (turned out to be an unscheduled ‘interview’). He asked me if I was willing to move to Wichita, Kansas – Which I eagerly stated, ‘Yes!’ He then said, ‘You have been highly recommended by your brother-in-law, Bruce Beelman; and to tell you the truth, that is good enough for me.’ After a ten-minute chat, my husband and I started packing our bags for Wichita.
I worked in the Wichita Area OSHA Office for 25 years before transferring to the OSHA Kansas City Regional Office, where I currently hold the position of Assistant Regional Administrator for Compliance Assistance Programs. I just completed my 28th year with OSHA, a career I love and that I am very proud of. I just want you all to know that it would have never happened, if Jeff did not take a chance on me. Each of us can look back and identify those few people that had a profound impact on our life. For me, Jeff makes that short list and I will be forever grateful. I had the utmost respect for Jeff and valued his leadership. He may be gone, but he left a mark on so many of us that will carry on.
May his memory bring you many smiles during this sad time.
Kris (and John) Lenoch
I was so sad to hear that Jeff passed away. I met him many years ago at Health Strategies and would see him a Genesis. Every morning he would go to Panera and thats where we really became friends. Its not ever going to be the same for me. We always talked about how unique Panera was and we all became a family there. I will truly miss him and he will be in my thoughts forever. Sincerely , Dolores David
When we moved from Wichita to Orlando saying goodbye to Jeff was very hard, we wrote a few times and working out was not the same as seeing Jeff with his magnetic personality every morning at Genesis. I always liked surprising him at Christmas with some soap or socks, it caught him off guard and I loved it. We talked often about his RV trips up to Michigan and around the country, his love of family, also about Sports, yes he loved Nebraska, I am a MSU fan, and we joked about our love of teams. I have been very sad since learning of Jeffs passing, especially because he was such an exceptional person, all I can say is farewell, you will not be forgotten and hopefully we will cross paths again after I leave this earth. Rest in peace, you now have God on your side. Marc Gelina
My sympathies to all who knew Jeff, to know him is to love him. He will be missed, our holidays will always have an empty place where he belonged.
Sincerely,
Mark and Staceys sister–Teresa
Dear Margaret and Family,
With sincere sympathy for the loss of your loved one. I worked on and off with Jeff in the 70s,80s,& 90s. He was mentor, friend, and a dedicated public servant. His love for family, country, and nature was with out end.
Thoughts and prayers, Steve
May his memory be eternal.
La galette Family.
Dear family of Jeff. I met this wonderful man at Genesis Health Club and at Panera. He was always so friendly and kind. I was sad to see his obituary, and I wanted to express my condolences to all of his family members because I know from the little that I knew him, he was such a kind and amazing person.
May Gods peace and comfort be with you at this time.
Dear Spahn Family, My deepest sympathies to you in your loss. Jeff was the highlight of the day when seeing him at Genesis Health Club or at Panera enjoying his coffee. It was a joy to talk with him about Husker football, to catch up on your family, or to chat about whatever subject came with the day. He was a kind and lovely soul and he will be greatly missed.
My deepest condolences to the Spahn family. Jeff was a wonderful man, and always a joy to talk to when I would see him sitting in the commons area of his home.
Dear God,
Thank you for loving, protecting, and keeping Jeff Spahn, Sr. in your everlasting embrace. He showed all of us who knew him what it meant to live life with deep love, passion, integrity and honor. We mourn Jeff sadly but we are grateful for the honor of knowing and cherishing him. He made us all want to be better, to ourselves and to others in our community. Thank you also for keeping his family safe and strong in this time of grief and let them be comforted in their memories of being loved by him.
We had the privilege of living next door to Margaret and Jeff for many years. Jeff would occasionally bake bierocks from a family recipe that he would share and they were so good. I have a copy of that recipe today which I cherish. We would trade garden produce in the summer and cookies in the winter. I remember Jeff for his artistic abilities and good humor. Bless Margaret and her family at this sad time.
So very sorry to hear of Jeffs passing. Thoughts and prayers to the family in the coming days.
The best of America……a gentleman soldier.
To the Spahn family – it was a pleasure knowing your Dad, brother, uncle. He was a great friend to me and we enjoyed talking about life at Panera. I will miss him. Im shocked and will miss him so much. He talked about all of you so much.
Dear Jeff Jr. and family: We wish you all our heartfelt sympathy and prayers during this time of sorrow and remembrance. Both Jennifer and I will miss his warm, smiling face and baritone voice while seeing him for an impromptu coffee at Panera from time to time after leaving Genesis. He was the epitome of a kind man who never met a stranger. May Gods grace and love be with you and your family.
Jeff and I met up at Paneras and he was gracious, fun ,and wonderful. I will miss his good demeanor and friendship.
Please accept our deepest condolences for your family’s loss.