Look, it's Jeff!

**Bubblehead** · October-21-23, 06:23 PM

Hopefully this will bring back some fond memories for those that knew him, and provide a small glimpse of who he was for those that didn't.

=======================================

In the weeds next to a footpath on Detroit’s Belle Isle sits an engraved boulder that reads:

JEFF COLBY
1964 ----- 2007
COMMITTED TO THE GREATNESS OF DETROIT
DETROITYES.COM/ITSJEFF

I walked by the boulder often on my regular route south along the Detroit River near the Coast Guard station without seeing the inscription. If I paid it any attention at all, I saw only the smooth unlettered side of the rock.

Then one day, while walking in the opposite direction, I caught a glimpse of the engraved words peeking out from behind a mass of weeds. After pulling the grass away to get a better look, I typed “detroityes.com/itsjeff” into my phone and proceeded down a rabbit hole.

“ItsJeff” is the screen name Jeff used on the detroityes.com discussion forum. When he died unexpectedly in 2007, forum members chipped in for the boulder and a bench facing Windsor, Canada, as well as a paver on the Detroit RiverWalk. Since then, the bench has disappeared, and the area became a nature preserve.

A few things about Jeff:

· For 20 years he was a Law Clerk for the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Michigan.
· He visited inmates in prison to help them fill out paperwork for their upcoming cases even though it was not in his official job description.
· He was an unofficial DetroitYES! social director and organized outings at various Detroit locations for the DetroitYes! Forum Social Club [[aka, the FSC), which included any “forumer” who wanted to show up.
·

He organized FSC picnics at Belle Isle.
· He convinced a bunch of forumers to playfully hijack threads and type, “ItsJeff is the kindest, bravest, warmest, most wonderful human being I’ve ever known in my life.”
· He would invite new forumers to lunch and pick up the tab.
· He went out of his way to make new people welcome at FSC functions, and made a point to introduce them to forumers.
· He loved photoshopping himself into random pictures.
· In 2006, he declared war on Livonia in a hilarious thread that was re-enacted in 2008 on WDET, Detroit’s Public Radio station.
· He had just retired from law clerking and started a new career in the insurance business shortly before he died.

I didn’t know Jeff.
I wish I had.

**Jimaz** · October-21-23, 07:22 PM

Well, thank you for that post, Bubblehead!

I didn't know ItsJeff that well but he was certainly loved by all.

What I most admired about him {and was a bit envious as well} was his ability to deescalate confrontation with humor. That takes a true diplomat and is sorely needed in our divisive world today. I doubt he even recognized how skilled he was at doing that. It just seemed to come naturally to him.

And thanks for that photo too. It brings it all together.

**Jimaz** · October-21-23, 08:40 PM

If anyone wants to search for Itsjeff's posts, they can be found at DetroitYES HOME » DetroitYES Archives Index.

**Lowell** · October-22-23, 12:54 AM

The bench was beneath a large willow tree that was blown down in a storm, unfortunately taking the bench with it.

**Bubblehead** · October-22-23, 07:17 AM

Pertinent Threads:
Jeff's Passing:
https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mess...914/94176.html
Are we at war with Livonia?
https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mess...tml?1141787304

**Kathleen** · October-22-23, 02:13 PM

Thanks, Bubblehead, for letting us know the boulder is still present on Belle Isle. Thought about it on a recent visit to the island, but didn't have time to walk and check it out.

The boulder--and bench that Lowell mentioned--was one of several tributes to ItsJeff by the DetroitYES community.

He is still dearly missed by many!

**canuck** · October-22-23, 03:25 PM

How did the war with Livonia end, or did it? Truce?

**Bubblehead** · October-22-23, 04:30 PM

The war was over when I moved to Michigan in 2015, but I was told by a reliable source that Livonia surrendered unconditionally, and was subsequently granted its independence in late 2007 when they agreed to [[1) demolish the Laurel Park Mall and [[2) never develop a downtown area.

I could be misinformed...

**canuck** · October-24-23, 08:45 AM

Lol.

If Slovenia was able to do it, why not Livonia? Glad it’s all ok now.

**Lowell** · October-24-23, 09:24 AM

Sometime in 2008, WDET created a radio dramatization of "Are We at War with Livonia". Unfortunately the link that led to it now redirects to their home page.