Family and friends are mourning the loss of Abb Allen Jeffcoat III, a well-known Columbia real estate agent who died Thursday at Duke University Hospital of complications from cystic fibrosis. He was 37.

Jeffcoat, who worked at Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors Inc., was remembered as a caring, gentle man who always put others first.

The son of Abb Allen Jeffcoat Jr., the firm’s owner, he grew up with “real estate in his blood,” said Bruce Harper, his friend of 23 years.

“He truly was such a wonderful person,” Harper said. “A man of character and charisma and such a caring individual.”

Jeffcoat, a 1988 graduate of Spring Valley High School and 1993 graduate of USC, loved to hunt deer and ski and was an avid Gamecock fan.

He regularly attended USC football, baseball and basketball games with family and friends.

A couple of years ago, Harper was inspired by Jeffcoat’s determination to hike up Whiteside Mountain with him in North Carolina.

“A very, very dear part of my soul is gone and will never be replaced,” Harper said.

Sarah Burnside, a longtime family friend who considers Jeffcoat a “little brother,” visited him at the hospital last week.

They went over the USC baseball schedule together and talked about going to the game at Alabama, she said.

He never spoke poorly of anybody or anything, except maybe Clemson, she joked. “Every time spent with him always left me with a smile,” Burnside said. “He just had a way of making you feel good.”

Jeffcoat’s care for others extended to his clients, said Ron Roe, the firm’s vice president and general manager. He would cancel Sunday social events with friends to meet clients’ needs, Roe said.

Jeffcoat had worked full time for the firm since 1999 at the Columbia East office on Devine Street.

“He rose to be one of the top producers in the company,” Roe said.

Jeffcoat was a member of the Greater Columbia Association of Realtors Circle of Excellence, a group of top agents. He was also a member of Eastminster Presbyterian Church, where funeral services will be held Monday at 2 p.m.

“His best attribute was his ability to listen and understand people,” Roe said. “He was truly one of those human beings that put other people ahead of himself.”

Source: www.thestate.com

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