Jeff Bernstein

Jeffrey Bernstein, 74, of East Brady passed away surrounded by his wife and two daughters on Wednesday after a courageous 10-year battle with cancer.

Jeff had a lifelong love affair with his best friend and wife, Christine (Miller) Bernstein, whom he met when she moved to Philadelphia for medical technician school. They quickly started a whirlwind life when Jeff was in the U.S. Army — moving to Massachusetts and eventually to Africa. They visited Greece on the way to Ethiopia, where they lived for 18 months before returning home to the states. His other loves included his daughters, Megan (Dan) Slaugenhoup and Katherine (Steven) Heginbotham; and his grandchildren, Kate, Emma, Owen and Audrey.However, Jeff also had other love affairs, the beach, seafood, Maker's Mark, the History Channel, being barefoot, geocaching in the woods, cheesecake, ordering from Amazon, the Pittsburgh Penguins, technology, and going out to dinner and the movies with his wife, Chris. Obviously, the best was listed last.Jeff wore Birkenstocks and Patagonia, before hipsters realized they were cool, made delicious charcuterie boards before people were attending workshops to learn how to make them, had a killer vinyl collection that would make any cool 20-something drool, wore an earring, when the rest of East Brady thought maybe that was odd, and unfortunately got stopped at having more than two tattoos as his wife of 53 years said one more tat meant no more marriage. He loved to collect flashlights, knives, jewelry, wine and passwords for his computer that he often changed, rotated and forgot. He had many catchphrases that his wife and kids know, but none that are suitable for print.He excelled at everything. There was nothing broken that Jeff could not fix, no customer service agent that Jeff could not coerce into patching him straight through to the manager, and no job he was not suited for, as he worked at Daman Industries, Witco and Armco. He took extreme pride in being neat as a pin for church, and serving on the mission committee, the Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma board, and the East Brady Borough Council, for possessing a keen sense for when someone stole one of his best pens and did not replace the cap correctly, and having his clocks all coordinated in the house to the second.He despised intolerance, bad drivers (which he had a serious intolerance for), Jell-O salads, pretentious people, attending football games in the rain or cold (which his wife would often force him to do), not getting a seat at the bar when he went out to eat, being late, others moving his things without permission to move his things, and cancer.Jeff was preceded in death by his parents.BERNSTEIN — Friends of Jeffrey Bernstein, who died Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2021, will be received from 10 to 11 a.m. with a memorial service following at 11 a.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church in East Brady, with the Rev. Raymond Eichler officiating.Private burial will follow.Arrangements are under the direction of Buechele Funeral Home and Cremation Services, East Brady.The family asks that memorial donations be made to Pittsburgh Cure Sarcoma, P.O. Box 194, Gibsonia, PA 15044.To view or express condolences, please visit www.buechelefuneralhome.com.