Jeff Kokdemir was our next door neighbor from the mid-90s until his death on July 2, 2007. He livened up our private cul-de-sac and neighborhood with his humor and antics. Shortly after he moved in he complained about the low water pressure and he bugged the Miami-Dade Water & Sewer Department long enough to get new underground pipes installed in our cul-de-sac which dramatically improved all of our neighbors' water pressure. For many years he brought all of the neighbors' garbage cans and recycling bins in from the driveway after collection and he supplied all of us with a ton of day old bagels from a local bagel store. I took almost all of the bagels in to the airport where our office staff sold them to employees with the proceeds going to our United Way fund.

Jeff immigrated to the US from Turkey, was in the business of selling steel produced in Turkey, and he was a darn proud Turk. He loved his visits back to his beloved homeland.

Farewell good buddy and great neighbor. Our sympathies to his wife Brenda, daughter Dawn, son-in-law Ruben, their daughters Jessica and Jamie, and other loved relatives in the US and in Turkey.

Click on Jeff's photo to read his obituary from The Miami Herald.