Jeffrey Mark Tomer

Jeffrey Mark Tomer passed away on January 11, 2025, at Massachusetts General Hospital, surrounded by his family. He was 63 years old.

A native of Springdale, Pennsylvania, Jeff was born on April 4, 1961, to Neil and Judy Tomer. His parents and grandparents taught him the importance of family, working hard, and helping others. His childhood was filled with big Italian dinners at Nana’s, summers carousing along the Allegheny River with MumMum and PupPup in Tidioute, and Pittsburgh Steelers football. Jeff was quick to find a home in the sport, too, as a fan and as a player; a captain in high school and college, he was a lineman who proudly “never left the field.”

Jeff was always independent as a person and as a thinker. He was an idea man with a mechanical mind. He could fix anything. He loved taking things apart and making them better. He was also a dreamer, fabricator, and amateur inventor, including creating a finger-picking system for learning the guitar long before so many others.

A musician all his life, Jeff started playing guitar as a young man, inspired by James Taylor and other 1970s troubadours. He eventually picked up the mandolin, banjo, harmonica, and drums, and he had been known to plunk out some notes on the piano, too. While music was a lifelong passion, Jeff’s first love was his family.

Jeff first saw the love of his life, Cindy (née Millen) Tomer, at a party in college. Instantly smitten, he visited the restaurant where she worked religiously to spend time with her. They married in 1985 and moved to New England to start their family soon after, buying a 200-year-old house in Hollis, New Hampshire, which he restored by hand over the years. They have six children, and Jeff was famously proud of each of them, valuing their unique gifts and personalities. He dedicated his life to providing for his family.

Ever the handyman and entrepreneur, Jeff applied his mechanical expertise and gregariousness (he never met a stranger!) to running Tomer Conveyor Services for more than 25 years, serving businesses and managing installations across the country. Still, it was a difficult path he chose, and the work often kept him on the road. Jeff was all too glad, then, to work closer to home later in his life, especially upon the arrival of his grandchildren. He was a devoted and doting Papa to his “grandbabies,” from building them a swingset to taking them fishing. His last words were “I can’t wait to see the kids again.”

Jeff is survived by his wife of forty years, Cindy; children, Jessica, Matthew, Christopher, Alexandra, Ian, and Brian; grandchildren, Avary, Jordan, Callum, and one due in April 2025; siblings, David and Kellie; and many nieces, nephews, and in-laws. The family will be holding a private celebration of life later in the year.