Jeffrey Edelheit, friend to all, died last week
His sudden passing leaves a hole in the lives of all who knew him
Sebastopol lost one of its own last week. Jeffrey Edelheit—mensch, father, friend, business consultant, and all-around guy-about-town—died last week on Thursday, August 14, from Legionnaires’ Disease. No one knows how he contracted that illness, but it took him quickly, leaving a shocked community in the wake of his passing.
Edelheit was born into a Jewish family in 1953 in Chicago, Illinois. He took classes at Northwestern but was drawn into the business world before he finished his degree. After moving to Sebastopol in 1992, he worked primarily as a business consultant, helping several local businesses get off the ground, including The Kiefery and the Energy Wave Center in Sebastopol.
Edelheit was deeply involved in the community: he was a board member with the Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation, helped in the creation of the Sebastopol Skate Park, and organized Earth Day celebrations. He was also, for a time, director of The Middle Way, a nonprofit providing job training and community-based employment for adults with developmental disabilities.
Some of his friends called him “the unofficial community mayor of Sebastopol” and, in 2001, the city of Sebastopol proclaimed him “a community treasure.”
Edelheit and his dog Pete could often be seen strolling around town, and he was a favorite regular at Community Market and Hardcore Espresso.
“He was one of a kind,” said Hardcore Espresso owner Molly Sunde, who has been friends with Jeffrey since she first moved here in 1995. Sunde said she talked with him almost every day about life, business and everything else. “You know, not too many times do you find a human that is so caring about everybody. It didn’t matter whether you were rich or poor, spiritual or not, whether you owned a gun—it didn’t matter, if Jeffrey liked you, you were his friend, and Jeffrey liked everybody.”
“He was a connector of people and loved talking with everyone,” his daughter Heather Crocker said. “He was always willing to help people and genuinely wanted people to be happy. If anyone needed something, he knew someone who could help them and would make connections. He helped people in any way that he could.”
Several close friends shared their feelings about Edelheit’s passing:
“Jeffrey was more than a best friend or mentor, he was a constant, a light, a powerful subtle force of warmth and understanding that made the world feel less heavy. He had a rare gift for making people feel seen, heard, and valued, no matter who they were or where they came from,” said Jodi Garavaglia. “His presence had a way of lifting spirits, and his words often carried exactly the wisdom or comfort someone needed to hear…Now that he’s gone, life feels different in a way that words can’t quite touch. There’s an emptiness where his voice used to be, where his texts would pop up at just the right time, where his perspective made the chaos feel manageable. He left a space no one else can fill, and I know that part of me will always ache for the comfort of simply knowing he was here. Everything happened so fast and without warning…I hope heaven is as kind to you as you were to all of us.”
“Jeffrey Edelheit is to Sebastopol like mycelium is to the forest, and his death created a ripple of shockwaves because his love ran deep through our community,” said his friend Rei Blaser, a life coach who for many years was the director of the Sebastopol Downtown Association. “Over the past 16 years, I have appreciated Jeffrey's friendship and the depth of conversation that revolved around our shared interest in sound healing, meditation, and frequency healing technologies. He had a natural willingness to listen to and encourage my dreams, and many others have spoken similarly. Jeffrey’s gentle spirit, quick humor, and bright smile will be missed, while his loving presence shines brightly in my heart.”
Debra Giusti, who co-founded the Energy Wave Center with Edelheit, wrote, “He was beloved by so many, and he was always assisting people and community projects with deep care, brilliant solutions, and generous support…Literally hundreds and hundreds of people knew him and appreciated him so much, and he had hubs of community all over Sebastopol. There are spontaneous memorials happening all over the city now, at the Energy Wave Center, Community Market, Osmosis Spa, Hardcore Café, and many other places because he was such a support to hundreds of people and many businesses in this community.”
A memorial for Edelheit was held at the Energy Wave Center on Monday. His daughter said the family would plan a celebration of life for their father in Sebastopol at a later date. In the meantime, they have set up a GoFundMe to help cover end-of-life costs.
Edelheit is survived by his two children, Heather Crocker and Aaron Edelheit; two granddaughters, Shayla Crocker and Via Crocker; two brothers, Larry Edelheit and Mark Edelheit; his former wife, Lydia; his sweetheart Catherine Goldsby; his business partner Debra Giusti; and multitudes of friends.
What a gorgeous legacy he leaves....