Jeffrey Greer

You Were a Great Big Man: Jeffrey Kim Greer, Born February 12, 1953 – Died October 6, 2026

Jeff Greer is still, I positively imagine, a great big man. In a place joyful and right, meeting the moment—perfect and forever—the eternal moment in many ways for which he lived his life.

As fishermen, the Greers have spent much of their lives on the waters of Montana and Alaska. It is unimaginable that there aren't trout or salmon at the end of a fly rod in heaven for a true believer. But the Greers depart from Norman Maclean's famous words: “In our family, there was no clear line between religion and fly fishing.” Instead, as a dear friend once observed, “For the Greers, there is no clear line between friends and family.”

Jeffrey began on February 12, 1953, in Bozeman, Montana, born to Ken and Ruth Greer. He was raised alongside his brother Tom and sister Gayle.

Jeff married the love of his life, Debra Harper, on March 20, 1976, beginning a remarkable 50-year partnership as husband and wife—The Duo, The Ol’ One-Two.

Since the 1970s, Deb and Jeff have devoted their lives to supporting others—not every person, but each person, each friend and each family member—fiercely, individually, and yet somehow together in community. Teaching warmth and shining in celebration, they stood as a buttress against which hardship and sadness crashed.

Jeff is survived by his beloved wife, Deb Greer.

Raise your hand if you were with Deb and Jeff at Montana State University when they were hippies in the ’70s, talking about Jesus. Yes, back then Jeff had big hair and sideburns. Deb was playing a classical guitar with a sunshine smiley face and the words Praise the Lord painted on the front. Both were wearing bell-bottoms all the while.

Or, perhaps you were a Young Life kid in the 1980s or ’90s who attended Flying French Toast at the Greer home at 6 a.m. on Fridays. Jeff would literally scoop French toast off the griddle with a spatula and send it flying across the kitchen, where a high school student would catch it on their plate or… ehh… retrieve it from the floor.

Raise your hand if you remember hearing the business plan to launch the Alpha Omega House, a place where University of Montana students could live in community that was founded by Jeff and Deb. Now raise your hand a little higher if you were one of the students whose life was changed over the past 20 years because Jeff refused to let any math predictions (mostly dubious about the project’s viability) stand in the way of creating something extraordinary.

Lookout, Jeff and Deb were just getting started.

Might you have been with the Greers when their pediatric cancer journey began? Ended? Well, it didn’t end. Deb and Jeff continued to bless others whose family faced a similar journey with cancer.

Give a shout if your family was served by Jeff Greer at Camp Agape, a summer camp in the Northwest for families with a child battling cancer. And if you've volunteered at Camp Agape, give another shout! This summer marks 30 years since Camp Agape was founded.

Now, shout even louder if your family once attended Camp Agape while facing childhood cancer and you later returned as a volunteer to help families facing those same struggles. That's the spirit of Camp Agape and the spirit of Jeff and Deb: turning the hope and love we receive into hope and love we give.

Jeff was preceded in death by his parents, Ken and Ruth; his first grandchild, Sona Patel Greer; and a multitude of children whose lives became intertwined with his through Camp Agape.

He is survived by Deb; his son Jonathan, daughter-in-law Amita, and grandsons Galen and Gabriel; his son Jason, daughter-in-law Emily, and granddaughters Bella and Lucia; daughter Molly Murphy and granddaughters Lainey and Addie; his brother Tom and sister Gayle; and his many nieces and nephews.

Beyond the family into which he was born and the family he raised, Jeff lovingly welcomed countless others with outstretched arms, disregarding lines between “friends” and “family”. Jeff leaves behind an extraordinary family, bound not only by blood but by friendship, faith, generosity, and love—lives forever changed simply by being part of his.

Jeff Greer was my dad.

In 2018, a pediatric oncologist in El Salvador asked if I could bring a summer camp model to his country for families with a child battling cancer. A few weeks later, I told my dad about the doctor's ask while sitting in a dive bar in Seattle. He cried. And when my dad cries, I know the Holy Spirit is with us (dive bar or not).

So, off we went.

Dad and I boarded a plane to El Salvador and founded Campamento Esperanza. Built on singing, dancing, silliness, and the extraordinary power of bringing families together who share the same struggles, our first camp served 20 families. Before long, the waiting list had grown to 120 families and several Latin American countries. We expanded into Costa Rica, with an invitation for Campamento Esperanza in Honduras in 2028. My dad told me he wanted to work on Esperanza until the end of his life - and so he did.

Shout loud enough to shake Heaven’s floors if you are a family served by Esperanza or a founding volunteer!

¡Griten tan fuerte que se escuche hasta el cielo si son una familia que ha recibido el apoyo de Esperanza o si fueron parte de sus voluntarios!

In the tv series The Newsroom. Jeff Daniels stars and, in one episode, his character's mentor dies suddenly. His mentor was a grizzly, tough guy named Charlie who believed in truth and loved Don Quixote.

After his mentor dies, Daniels says, “You were a man, Charlie. You were a great big man.”

When I watched the scene, I thought—Gosh, I hope someone thinks of me that way when I’m gone.

Remains to be seen.

In the meantime,

You were a man, Dad. You were a great big man.

Please join us in celebrating Jeff Greer’s life on November 21st in Missoula. The service will be held at Missoula Alliance Church at 3:30pm MST.