# Remembering our friend, Jeff Hepple



## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Jeffry S. Hepple, also known as the Librarian here at kboards, died on Sunday, April 28 at 5:30 pm in Texas. His family and beloved wife JoAnn were at his side when he passed.

Jeff was diagnosed earlier this year with idopathic pulmonary fibrosis. He considered various options, including a lung transplant, but unfortunately, the disease progressed faster than anticipated and his time here on earth was cut short. 

Jeff was one of the earliest kboard members (member #95) joining during "the great migration" in October 2008. He was an early Kindle adopter, avid reader, and prolific author. He was generous with his time here at kboards: mentoring new authors, serving as the librarian, and just being an all-around friend.

Jeff's ancestors, the Van Buskirks, trace their roots in this country to pre-Revolutionary war days. In doing family research, Jeff discovered some Van Buskirks that mingled with Nicolls (his family was in New Jersey; mine in New York) so we are probably distantly related. That earned me the nickname of "cousin"!

Jeff was working on a book at the time of his death. His children have pledged to carry on and I will be doing what I can to help them in this effort.

Please use this thread to share memories and thoughts of our good friend. If anyone would like to send a card to his wife and children, please PM me for the address.

L


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

OH NO JEFF!!!!!!!!!!! Aww man, we never managed to get to the same get-together. His books were some of the first Indie books I read after getting my first (and best loved) K1.


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## LDB (Oct 28, 2008)

Jeff was a great guy and a great friend. We were friends here and elsewhere for several years. On the 12th we finally met in person and spent a good bit of the day having a great visit. We had plans for another visit next week. It is a loss for those of us that knew Jeff and for those who never had the chance to know him.

I choose to see Jeff whole and strong and healthy, encircled by his ancestors, discussing his books, all he wrote and all he planned to write and probably already researching for the next book. I just wish the rest of us could read it sooner rather than later.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

I am sorry to hear that Jeff has left us. He was a very kind, dignified person. my condolences to his family.


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## KBoards Admin (Nov 27, 2007)

Jeff was a remarkable man and I will miss him greatly. We never met in person, but over the past five years we grew to know each other in these boards and through PMs and emails. I could rely on Jeff for a thoughtful viewpoint, some gruff advice, and - always - encouragement. Although he had a few decades on me in years and experience, his notes carried a sense of humility -- he had no air of self-importance about him.

I feel privileged that he chose us as one of his communities. His posts on this forum (almost 10,000 of them) reveal his generosity to his fellow readers as well as authors. He also contributed, largely uncredited, as our Librarian for keeping up the author yellow pages on this site -- a painstaking task that he carried out with his typical caring and diligence. 

Jeff was a gifted writer. If you enjoy historical fiction, I would recommend his books; his "Angel of 1776" novella was one of the first books I read on my Kindle.

Jeff's love of family always came through, and I feel for them as they grieve their loss. If I had to sum up Jeff and his very full life with one word, I would say "steadfast." His departure from this earth certainly leaves a hole for me, and I feel blessed to have known him.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

I cannot claim to have known Jeff very well at all, but the limited number of interactions we had here on KBoards always left me with the impression that he fit the phrase "a scholar and a gentleman" in the best way: a literate man without pretensions about it, and a natural-born gentleman as opposed to a stuffy, etiquette-bound poseur. I will miss him here, and I'm sure his close friends and family consider his passing a huge loss. I just hope that the pain will soon pass for them as they spend more time remembering the good things about him versus the sadness of the immediate past.


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

I'm copying this from my blog post.  I was so glad to see this thread here in tribute to Jeff.



There are millions of writers out there, some published, some not. But even with all those writers, the communities formed online are really quite small. We get to know our favorite authors via blogs. There’s several writer groups, but over time, you find yourself spending more and more time with certain groups or certain writers and readers. You stop talking gerunds and adjectives and start talking family and friends and posting pictures of your dog and cat and grandkids. You might even persuade a writer or reader that gardening is a great pastime. You share successes and ohboy, do you talk about things that didn’t work out the way you planned. In short, you make friends.

One of my writing friends, someone I never met in person, went to heaven this week. It probably shouldn’t feel like such a loss, but Jeffry Hepple was one of those people who was old school, a true gentleman and such a help to all of us. He welcomed new writers and understood when others came and went in the group. He was always concerned about us and goodness, he offered more than a helping hand and editing eye to most of us. He never lectured, and he never promoted his own books. Even when he took ill with rather odd symptoms, he kept his sense of humor, stayed in touch, and wrote to the forum with updates until two days ago. Then, one day after that, he was just gone. It was and is such a sad days for all of us.

Jeff wrote historical novels; retellings of war periods where he gave voices to real characters, creating the words they might have said from known historical situations. There’s probably a special name for such historicals, but most historical novels I’ve read don’t use a lot of real characters. They invent a side character that may or may not interact with the famous ones.

My favorite book was The Angel of 1776. It brought real people to life; whether they said any of the things Jeff invented really didn’t matter. I’ve never enjoyed history because the characters weren’t real. They were flat details without the real life person who lived, breathed, talked and felt. Jeff’s way of writing managed to get the history in there and make the characters more real.

Jeff wrote several other tomes, the most popular of which was a series called “Gone for a Soldier.” The first of which is titled…wait for it…Gone for a Soldier.

Towards what we didn’t know was the end of his life, he began writing illustrated retellings of children’s stories for his grand kids. My favorite was Camden and the Beanstalk.

There was just enough uniqueness to the story to make it enjoyable even for an old curmudgeon like myself. And what a wonderful gift and memory it will be for his grandson. He’ll always know he was loved and is special.

Jeff loved his family and talked often of his dear wife, kids and grand kids. He loved his country, freedom and the right and ability to live a dream. I knew Jeff as a writer, but will remember him best because of who he was: a father, a grandfather, a husband, a son, a brother and most of all, a friend.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

Oh No!!
I didn't know him well, but we joined about the same time and I have read so many of his posts it felt like I knew him. I have Gone for a Soldier but may have to buy Angel of 1776 in tribute


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Jeff was my mentor and my good friend. Without him, I would never have been published.

I read a post where he'd offered to help someone else get published and I very fearfully pm'd him to ask if he would mind helping me. From that point on, he held my hand through all the ups and downs of this crazy business. He was always patient and kind ... well, except for the times when he had to get out the cattle prod. 

Jeff was a gentleman in every sense of the word. His generosity seemed to have no limits, his friendship no boundaries.

I miss Jeff already, but my grief is for his family. From JoAnn, his wife of over fifty years, to Camden, his little great-grandson who Jeff cared for nearly every day. 

I once suggested that he read the Da's Story Time books to Camden and record them, but he said it didn't work because Camden kept giggling. I still thought he should have done it. I hope he did preserve that recording for his family. 

We've all lost a good man and a generous friend.


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## geoffthomas (Feb 27, 2009)

I posted these words eslewhere, but I cannot yet express myself better:
I cannot explain how much this hurts.
In my heart I knew it was coming - he pretty much told us it was.
But I just did not want to believe it.
Jeff and I are only two years apart and shared several life experiences.
I read his The Treasure of La Malinche and knew he was a special person.
I loved watching him support and encourage Margaret in her first book, Ariana's Pride.
What a great time I have had reading Jeff's work, watching him nurture other authors, being blessed to be allowed to discuss his works, and other subjects, with him.

He will be missed.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

Oh no, I am so sorry to hear this.  Jeff was truly a gentle man and as one of the old guard here he was such a positive presence.  I will miss him too.  My heart and prayers goes out to his family.


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## spotsmom (Jan 20, 2011)

I will miss the daily greetings from Texas.  Jeff showed us great strength in his last few weeks.  I hope I have as much courage and strength when my time is near.  Via con Dios, our friend.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

So, KBoards will continue to remember and honor Jeff until it is no more.  Harvey just made the change.

You know how you start out as 'Dr Suess' and move up the ranks of authors to 'Shakespeare'.  When we set up the system, we put in a couple of  . . . odd points . . . for various authors.  For example, at 1001 you are Scheherazade. When you hit 1984 posts, you become George Orwell.  At 2001, Arthur C. Clark.

Currently, one becomes 'Emily Dickinson' at 7500 posts and moves up to 'Isaac Asimov' at 10,000.

Now, in honor of Jeff, who has 9808 posts on the board, at 9808 you become Jeffry S. Hepple.  

Three members are in that status right now: Jeff, of course, and also Susan in VA and Terrance O'Brien.  How close are YOU?


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> So, KBoards will continue to remember and honor Jeff until it is no more. Harvey just made the change.
> 
> You know how you start out as 'Dr Suess' and move up the ranks of authors to 'Shakespeare'. When we set up the system, we put in a couple of . . . odd points . . . for various authors. For example, at 1001 you are Scheherazade. When you hit 1984 posts, you become George Orwell. At 2001, Arthur C. Clark.
> 
> ...


That is a wonderful tribute. Tears.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

Jeff's obituary has been published. You can read it here:

http://www.wacotrib.com/obituaries/hepple-jeffry/article_35fb7a02-1084-5f22-9aca-78d37ba3d6d9.html

L


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## MariaESchneider (Aug 1, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> So, KBoards will continue to remember and honor Jeff until it is no more. Harvey just made the change.
> 
> You know how you start out as 'Dr Suess' and move up the ranks of authors to 'Shakespeare'. When we set up the system, we put in a couple of . . . odd points . . . for various authors. For example, at 1001 you are Scheherazade. When you hit 1984 posts, you become George Orwell. At 2001, Arthur C. Clark.
> 
> ...


Well, as I suspected, I am less than half of a Jeffrey Hepple.

Thanks for this. What a nice thing to do.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

MariaESchneider said:


> Well, as I suspected, I am less than half of a Jeffrey Hepple.
> 
> Thanks for this. What a nice thing to do.


I'll never be a Jeffry S. Hepple since I'm well past 9808.


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

Gertie Kindle 'a/k/a Margaret Lake' said:


> I'll never be a Jeffry S. Hepple since I'm well past 9808.


Nor will I.


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## Chad Winters (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm 1/4 Jeff after like 6 years....pretty sure I will never make it but its a nice goal


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## SunHi Mistwalker (Feb 28, 2012)

Wow. I'm so sorry to hear this. I send my condolences to his loved ones. I didn't know Jeff personally but I've seen him around the boards. He seemed to always be willing to help and was a cheerful poster. He will be greatly missed.


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## Cheryl M. (Jan 11, 2011)

So sad to hear this. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Angela (Nov 2, 2008)

OMG... My heart is breaking. I just returned to KB this evening and was so looking forward to meeting up with old friends. Jeff is one of those I went looking for in a thread where he always offered me encouragement only to find that he has passed. There aren't enough words to express what a great man he was and I will always treasure the books he enticed me to read that did not fit into my normal genre. I was so honored to meet him face to face May 23, 2010, and even more honored when he used a picture I took of him that day on the cover of one of his books. My heart aches for his family and I am so grateful and blessed to have know this wonderful man.


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## Cindy416 (May 2, 2009)

I'm filled with sadness at the loss of Jeff. We have lost several dear KB members, and, although they no longer post here, they will remain in my heart. Jeff's family and friends are in my prayers, and I wish them all a short period of grieving, followed my a treasure trove of memories. Rest in peace, Jeff, and know that you are, and will continue to be, missed by your KB friends.  (I love the posting status in tribute to Jeff. How lovely! I guess I'd better get busy in my quest to become Jeffry S. Hemple, even if only for a short time.)


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## Sean Sweeney (Apr 17, 2010)

You take a little vacation, and you come back to see this dropped in your lap.... wow. I'm beside myself.

RIP, Jeff. I'll miss your weather reports from Deep In The Heart Of.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

Sean Sweeney said:


> RIP, Jeff. I'll miss your weather reports from Deep In The Heart Of.


Sean, it's really weird posting in the Good Morning Thread without Jeff 

I've been thinking about what I can say in Jeff's memory and I haven't come up with any show-stopping words. But he was my friend; in fact, he was a friend and helper to most of KBoards. I miss him, but I am glad that he was able to go out at home with his wife next to him.


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## Shayne Parkinson (Mar 19, 2010)

When I joined KBoards I was aware of Jeff almost at once, and ever since have been frequently struck by how constantly helpful he was, always ready to step up and offer assistance. He was what we used to call "a good bloke" (which from understated Kiwis is the highest of praise).

Rest in peace, Jeff. You'll be missed wherever you were known.


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## 908tracy (Dec 15, 2009)

Oh I am so sad to read this. Jeff posted with us on the Quit Smoking thread we have here, that's where I knew him from. 

My deepest condolences to his family. KB lost a great great man. RIP (((Jeff)))


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