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Marion Foster (Dimond)
We will miss his kindness and witty comments on our class website and Facebook page.
  
 
Jeffrey Alan Bernard Obituary
Jeffrey Alan Bernard (78), a true one-of-a-kind, died peacefully at home after a long illness on December 27th, 2025. He was born on June 12th, 1947 in Champaign, Illinois to E.H. and Patricia Bernard. He grew up in Alton, Illinois and graduated from Alton High School in 1965. He was considered a stand-out cross country runner as well as track. Jeff was on the winning mile-relay team in 1963 and 1964 that was inducted into the Alton High Sports Hall of Fame; a state record which still holds.
Jeff enlisted in the Army in December 1967 with a desire to be a warrant officer. He completed helicopter flight school at Fort Rucker and was assigned to the 118th Assault Helicopter Company at Bien Hoa, Vietnam. For serving in Vietnam, he received the Good Conduct Medal, Combat Action ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal and the Gallantry Cross Medal. Additionally he earned the Air Medal and the Bronze Star for heroism and meritorious achievement.
Post-Vietnam, Jeff was assigned to Katterbach/Ansbach, Germany where he flew missions testing combat-ready equipment and simulated field combat training situations. During his station-time in Germany, Jeff would visit the Rhine River, staying with family on the 1706 ancestral farm. While stationed in Germany, he bought a VW camper and raised Hoss, his beloved and storied 133 lb German Shepherd. Together they travelled extensively throughout Europe where Jeff learned to ski, hang glide, wind surf, and skirt the watchful eye of the occasional Eastern Bloc authority. After attending cooking school in Dieppe, France, Jeff ran restaurants in Germany and Greece including, of all things, a Chinese restaurant in Athens, Greece as well as a beachfront disco.
Back in the U.S., Jeff settled in Jacksonville Beach, Florida. An avid fisherman, he acquired his Captain’s license for boat deliveries and fishing charters; he once took Rod Stewart and his band out on an off-shore fishing trip! He opened “Jeffrey’s,” an upscale restaurant serving the Jacksonville Beach community in the ‘80s. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia in 1987 where he stayed in the hospitality business working in restaurant management and kitchen design. There he married Bobbi in 1989 and added a daughter, Brittany (Stewart). After 23 years in Georgia, Jeff and Bobbi moved to Charlotte, NC to be closer to Brittany and family.
Jeff was an amazing storyteller, covering many decades of almost unbelievable exploits, all told in Jeff’s characteristic, hilarious, and, sometimes bawdy, German-English patois. Jeff was a talented artist and a master tinkerer who relished the tinkering more than the fixing. He greatly valued friendship. For his entire life, Jeff cherished and maintained friendships from elementary school, high school, and those he met while serving in the military.
Jeff loved a lot of things in “God’s bounty,” as he might say: fishing, kayaking, the entirety of nature, finding the “back-way” somewhere, and, above all, spending time with his grandchildren (at the age of 58, Jeff changed his first, and maybe only, diaper). Northern Michigan was his spiritual home, where he has deep roots, spending his childhood summers there with cousins, aunts, and his beloved Uncle Bill. Jeff successfully transferred his love of Michigan to his entire family. Jeff was able to enjoy a visit to Michigan this past summer where he enjoyed time with family and his grandchildren visiting favorite fishing holes, quaint villages, and tracking backyard feathered and furry wildlife at the birdfeeders.
He is survived by his wife, Bobbi Bernard; sister, Patty (P.J.) Bernard; daughter, Brittany Bowron (Josh) and 3 grandchildren, Ava, Henry, and Mary (“The Herdz”); his aunts, Char Stephens and Kay Pierce; as well as many cousins. Jeff’s life was full of love, adventure, accomplishments, and meaningful relationships.
In honor of his full life, a service will be held on Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at 11 a.m. at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church (1510 E. 7th Street, Charlotte, NC), the Rev. Joshua Bowron preaching and Rev. Justice Schunior, presiding. A reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall. Memorial gifts may be made to St. Martin’s Episcopal Church or to the Wounded Warriors Project.
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