July 7, 1972- June 14, 2024. Jeff is survived by his wife Carrie (and her family); his sons Layton (15) and Grayson (10); his father Randy; his step-mother Mary; his sister Amy, her husband Mike Lee, and their children Sophie (17) and Parker (15); his sister Natalie; his step-brother Jason Mascow; and his step-sister Jackee Brown, her husband Rusty Brown, and their children Braxton, Bryce, Jillian and Reagan.

With absolute shock, disbelief, anguish, and emotions words cannot fathom, we are forced to disclose, our phenomenal, beloved, extraordinary, awe-inspiring, majestic, stalwart, charming, incredible, simply lovely Jeffrey David Bricker, while walking to breakfast with his son Grayson on Friday, June 14, faced a sudden heart attack that stole him from our world.

Jeffrey, also known as Dad, (Uncle) Jeffie, Jeffarino, "Chrome Cromwell (ask MA)", or simply Jeff ("my man crush" for many), was born on Friday, July 7, 1972 at Brevard County Hospital in Melbourne, Florida. He was the first born (of three) to Randall David Bricker and Jory Jean Bricker.

Jeff came into this world seeking adventure, excitement, fun, love, and good times with all. From his birth until the end, he was constantly charting, planning, navigating the many paths, many lives that would allow him to accomplish all of this, and then some.

He was brought to his first home at Satellite Beach, nestled between the Atlantic Ocean, and Indian River Lagoon, which infused his love for all things water. For his adventures, he would need an entourage. Fifteen months after his arrival, his sister Amy was born; another fifteen months later, his sister Natalie arrived. From then on, it was always Jeff, Amy and Natalie.

Needing more space to plot and scheme his big brother role, he and his family then moved to Commercial Blvd in Fort Lauderdale. His childhood there was spent outside, in the pool, at the beach, building a fort, finding new ways to experiment with/torment his sisters, and soaking in everything he possibly could. He quickly learned how to avoid getting in trouble, by simply telling his Mom that it was one of his sisters who did it, never him. Being the oldest had its advantages, but also came with a price. Though his charismatic charm landed him many friends, he could never play with them alone, as he always had to have his sisters tag along and watch out for them. Needing to be their protector, he opted to also learn Karate and how to be prepared for any situation.

Then a wonderful surprise came along for him as his Aunt Donna brought him the best gift of all: a baby boy cousin to play with, Tyson, and soon after, even better, another girl cousin, Mandi, to keep his sisters occupied. After their arrival, every given opportunity, all the cousins would play together, captained by Jeff. His entourage was continuing to grow.

Then in 1980, Jeff and his family moved from Florida to Georgia, to Terrell Mill Estates. Shortly after settling into their house on Timberland Drive, there would be a fateful tap on the door, and Jeff's world would become larger, as a timid Mike Allen (MA) would ask Jory if she had a son he could play with.

Jeff could not be more excited to finally have someone his age around, but of course his sisters would need to tag along. Good thing Mike had a sister, Dee, their same age to distract them, allowing Jeff and Mike to conquer the world.

With no oceans around, Jeff would need to find new means of adventure. He quickly discovered wheels, trails and rivers. As he and his siblings' energy grew, Randy knew they needed more ways to express it. A dirt bike trail, swimming pool and hot tub were soon added to the house, but not by any professional companies, all built directly by Randy and his family.

Georgia did have one thing Florida didn't, a fireplace, and a new spark was born in Jeff: fire. Randy loved chopping down trees and building fires, and Jeff loved every chance he could get to learn and be like his Dad.

Growing up, Jeff was either on his bike, skateboarding, riding dirt bikes, swimming in the pool, going to the movie theater where his Mom worked, building fires or walking to shoot the hooch. Then, a new love entered his life: music.

Mike had a drum set in his house, and Jeff needed to be able to jam with him, so he learned how to play the harmonica and bass guitar. But that wasn't enough, they needed a band. Though he and Mike were only still in Elementary School at Brumby, they started the band "Destroyer Destroys" (which changed names many times, "Short Circuit" "Prowess" "Bat your Lashes" etc). Then when they got to Middle School, at East Cobb, they recruited Steve and Greg. Later when they were in high school, at Wheeler, the band grew some more with Rob (though he came from Steve's high school at Walton). Jeff then wanted to change roles and become a sound engineer/manager of the band.

Though Jeff adored his new lifelong friendships, worshipped the band, and was just settling into high school, circumstances would change. After providing an amazing childhood for their children, in 1987, Randy and Jory parted ways and Jory moved to Florida.

One of the most beautiful things about Jeff was, no matter what he needed or how hard it would be for him, if he felt someone he loved was in need, he would go to the ends of the universe for them. Though he loved his Dad, sisters, and friends, he didn't want his Mom to be alone. Jeff chose to pack up his life and move back to Florida with his Mom, while his Dad stayed in Georgia with his sisters.

Having to start fresh in Florida could not have been easy, but Jeff had that flock to personality, and soon he made another close friend, Chris, along with Matt, Dudley, Ralph, Steve, and the list goes on, and of course there was a band, "Cathedral Swing." He also found a new freedom: driving cars. He adored his first of many, a bright yellow, Ford Fiesta.

Although he loved his Florida (given and chosen) family, Jeff had a rocky relationship with high school, and in 1990 moved back to Georgia to work with his Dad at his new automotive repair business, Cadillac Care.

Being a musician and seeker of adventure, Jeff really hadn't yet grasped the concept of work. He had a couple of jobs before, the first being at an ice cream shop in which he ate more ice cream than he sold. Then he tried being a busboy with Mike and his sister Amy and Aunt Molly at RCI cafe, but that was also short lived. So, it was no surprise his own Dad soon fired him.

Jeff quickly turned back to music, and had many adventures, jobs, and different places to live. Along the way he met many new great friends and reconnected with old ones. His entourage had grown and grown.

One of his more iconic homes was an old warehouse that was previously used as a slaughter house in Atlanta on 10th and 14th street, which was beginning to be turned into lofts. Not the fancy trendy lofts you see now, but the very scary, this is a lot of space and a lot of weird stuff has happened here, but if you are poor, and want some place to put a bed, we will let you, type of loft. Soon other people joined the notion, and this very scary, crazy place quickly turned into the ultimate party pad. Jeff met new friends, new musicians, and his first real girlfriend there.

As time passed, reality began to creep its way in, and as much as he hated to think about it, he needed a steady income, and a real home. By this time, his Dad's business was growing, and his Dad (Randy) was eager to have his son come back and start learning about responsibility. As he often did, Jeff changed course once more.

After learning his lesson the first time, though it wasn't the easiest Jeff soon became a master mechanic and rented a house from his Dad on Sandy Plains until he could eventually afford his own home on Green Meadow. As the business grew, Jeff then helped his Dad build from scratch, literally scratch, a new building. What started as trees is now Randy's Automotive on Merritt Road. Just like the trail, swimming pool and hot tub, there were no professionals, there was just Randy, his family, and friends, until there was this incredible new place Randy could share with his son.

Now that Jeff had a steady income, he needed new toys. Amongst cars, and motorcycles, he needed a boat. He bought his first cruiser around 1996 and toted it up to Lake Allatoona. Then he later convinced his sister Natalie to buy a bigger boat with him, so she could drive it for him, while he invited everyone up to enjoy the lake life.

By this time Jeff not only had a large following of friends, he also had a new family with his Dad's new wife Mary, her children, Jason and Jackee, sister's Dorothy, Cathy, Gloria and brother Jim (and all their families) along with his work family Carol, her family, Todd, Dwayne and Pat, and met even more great friends at the lake, like Bobby and Teresa, Rhee and Mike, and Steve ("Honeyman") and Dawn. He worked his charm and convinced everyone to either buy boats or come hang at the lake. As time passed, the boats became bigger and bigger, as did the party. Not only did he convince his Dad to buy a houseboat, he then convinced him his houseboat wasn't big enough, and he needed to buy an even bigger one, but not to worry, he would take care of his first one.

Besides boating, Jeff loved to travel. As a teenager, he often traveled back and forth to Florida to see his Mom and friends. Amongst his many vehicles, he had this old beat-up van that had holes in the roof, ceiling, and floors. It didn't even have a seat, just a bucket, and he fittingly called it "Swiss Cheese". Many trips were taken with his reluctant sisters and friends. It was always an adventure, always some kind of trouble, and always the best time.

He also helped both his sisters travel across the country multiple times and continued to travel with his friends and family. In his lifetime, he had visited numerous U.S. states, Canada, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica, Europe, back to Mexico multiple times, the Bahamas, took a cruise for his 50th birthday to Alaska, then back to Europe for his sister Amy's 50th birthday. He spent time a lot of time with the family on the West Coast (where his sister Amy lived after college), including San Francisco, Los Angeles, Lake Tahoe and Napa. His brother-in-law Mike took him to watch the US open with his Dad in NY, as tennis was one of their favorite sports, and took him to the Super Bowl, as football was another. There was never a shortage of travel, friends, family or good times.

However, the best time came when he met Carrie in 2004, through Todd from the shop (who happened to be married to Carrie's sister Lisa). Jeff and Carrie were then married on July 24, 2008. Of course their wedding celebration was in Florida on a rented catamaran. Meeting and marrying Carrie would be the highlight of his life, bringing him the most incredible adventures, and changing his course forever.

Carrie was the angel Jeff always needed, and beyond deserved. She planted herself directly in his heart, as if she was there from the start. She brought strength, stability, fun, compassion, patience, love and happiness to his life.

Luckily for Jeff, Carrie shared a passion for family, boating, traveling, and having a good time. Even more fortunate for him, she was able to put up with his crazy family, especially his sisters, and Aunt Molly (who was like an older sister). Carrie even had her own large family (twin sister Cassie, sister Lisa, brother Steve (and their families), incredible Mom, Sandra and doting father Darrell) and amazing friends (like Robert and Lori and Kelly and Brian just to mention a few) to bring into the mix. Jeff's entourage just kept growing, and growing, and he couldn't have been happier, or could he?

Then Jackee decided to throw everyone a curveball, and start the baby train with her son Braxton (whom later grew up to be one of Jeff's closest companions), of course Amy then needed to hop on that train and had Sophie. Then Jackee was like, I'm not done, and Bryce came along, and of course Amy needed to match that by having another with Parker. Jeff adored being an uncle, and initially was a bit scared to be a father, but now all eyes were on him and Carrie, and once again his course would change.

Jeff and Carrie did not disappoint. Layton arrived on June 18, 2009, and Grayson arrived on September 5, 2013. Out of all of his adventures, being a father was his most thrilling, rewarding, breathtaking, and magnificent of them all. Jeff already had a large heart, but it grew a billion times over when his boys entered it. He adored and worshipped them; they were and will always be his everything, his masterpiece, his reason for being, his heart and soul.

His favorite thing in the world was being and playing with his boys -- taking them to the lake, teaching them about life and how to swim, fish, jet ski, play sports, be silly, have fun, be creative, be savvy, travel, snow ski, learn to navigate difficult waters, and most importantly love and enjoy life.

He adored watching them grow, seeing their achievements, learning the new things they learned, their art, their musical talents, their incredible good grades, all the friends they brought (and their parents) into the entourage, watching their baseball games, and watching them become close with their cousins and family. He cherished their smiles, their laughter, and the crazy things they would do and say. But most importantly, he cherished their love -- the love he knew they had for him. Every day he was astonished and felt beyond blessed and perhaps even a little intimidated that these incredible beings cherished him and loved him in a way he never imagined could be possible. Together, they built Jeff's final home on Keenland Road.

While Jeff was brilliant and could fix just about anything, navigate through the roughest of storms (a trait he inherited from his father), the one thing he knew he could not change, the one thing we all carry heavy in our hearts, is the set course of life. Whether we are ready for it or not, there will be an end.

Though we cannot fathom it, we refuse to acknowledge it, often try to convince ourselves we are invincible, and hold on as long as we are allowed, eventually the call comes. Sadly, he too knew this, as he and we have all felt that wave crash upon us, leaving us without air, in despair, lost in disbelief. I know the hardest part of his life was this -- having his call come too soon for his boys. I know if he could have, he would have rebuilt the nature of life just for them. I also know, though his body may no longer be here, he will find a way to shelter them, guide them, love them, and be in their lives, as no course, not even that of nature, will keep him from them, nor from you.

While his boys, Carrie, his Father, his Mom, his sisters, his family and close friends were the most constant in his life, each and every one of you reading this were truly special and meaningful to him. He had a way of soaking everyone in, mesmerizing them with his thoughtfulness, charm, creativity, brilliance, kindness and genuine love. We must ask your forgiveness for not being able to highlight every name and every event in his life, as that would be impossible. Though his years were short, he lived many lives -- more than most would be able to if they had hundreds of years. He touched and changed everyone and everything in each of those lives, sharing his uniqueness, his gift of him.

Though we will all always struggle with this loss, this brevity, this unfairness, our longing, our need for this not to be true, we know Jeff would not want any of us to harbor any pain or suffering, not even for a second, over him. He would want all of you to celebrate life, enjoy it as he did, cherish every moment, and look for the next adventure. So for him, when you feel those tears, when that sadness starts to take over, find one of those joyous memories, those unbelievable wonderful stories each of us have made with him, because of him, and share it in your heart, and the heart of others. This is how we can honor him, repay the kindness he gave to us all, and allow him to be with us, until we meet again.

A memorial service will be held at Piedmont Church on Saturday, June 22 at 3:00pm. A live stream will be available for those unable to attend.  The family will receive friends from 2:00pm to 3:00pm prior to the service.  A catered reception of small bites will follow the service in the Piedmont Church Conference Center.

If you would like to send a remembrance of Jeff, in lieu of flowers we ask you to donate in his honor to a charity of your choice.

Click HERE to view the live stream of Mr. Bricker's service.