Civic Leader Thomas Jeffers, Jr. Dies at 77

A Funeral Mass has been set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 21 at St. Bede the Venerable Church for Thomas Joseph Jeffers, Jr., who died July 5, 2007 of cardiac arrest.

Born Dec. 8, 1929, Tom was baptized at Holy Redeemer Church in Montrose and was reared in La Cañada. Tom’s grandparents, the Meyers family, came to Montrose in the very early 1900s and his mother and father settled in the area in 1923. The Meyers family as well as the Jeffers helped develop Montrose.

Tom Jr. continued his interest in Montrose and with four other businessmen, Hugo Ebmeyer, Bob Cooke, Cliff Banks and Don Carpenter, Montrose grew. These men were all members of the Montrose Chamber of Commerce. Every week for more than a year, the five men met at Tom’s law offices in Montrose and discussed how the town could be improved by making it an outdoor mall. These five men, using their personal funds, traveled to several locations looking to see what other towns had done. They visited Grand Junction, Colo., and were impressed with the way the town was set out. Visitors to today’s Montrose will see a distinct similarity between the two communities.

Tom attended La Cañada grammar school, Loyola High School, Loyola University and Loyola Law School. After he passed the California State Bar in 1954, he opened his offices in Montrose and continued there until his death, spanning 53 years as an attorney there, moving only from Ocean View Boulevard to Honolulu Avenue in 1967, where his offices are today. His wife, Eva, became an attorney and the two shared the office.

Tom’s strong beliefs were to God, country and family. From these beliefs, he was involved with the Catholic Church and its charities. He helped various Protestant churches whenever he was needed. He felt it was his duty and privilege to be part of service organizations and he was a charter member of the Crescenta Cañada Jaycees, past president of the Kiwanis Club of Montrose-La Crescenta, past treasurer of the Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce, Glendale Junior Chamber of Commerce, Crescenta Valley Red Cross fund drives, Knights of Columbus, and Mission Medica Independente, an organization of private pilots who flew dentists into remove areas of Mexico to help poor children try to save their teeth from decay.

Tom was past president of the Glendale Bar Association, was on the Selective Service Board enacted in 1967 by then-Governor Ronald Reagan and Richard Nixon. He was also a member of the Parking Commission of the city of Glendale for the Montrose area and was appointed by Supervisor Michael Antonovich of the Judicial Procedure Commission, a post he held for more than 15 years.

Tom and Eva have hosted numerous events at their La Cañada home for charities, churches, civic groups and political events. Tom believed strongly in the political process and he loved America.

In addition to his wife, other survivors include son Tom III, daughter Nancy, stepson Peter, granddaughter Mary, grandson William, brother Steve and sister Virginia. He was preceded in death by his daughter Mary, his sister Nancy, his mother Gladys and his father Thomas Sr.

Donation’s in Tom’s memory may be sent to: Loyola High School, 1901 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90006, or The Terry Anderson Talk Show, 3940 Laurel Canyon Blvd., #643, Studio City, CA 91604.