Jeffrey Gainey Obituary

Jeffrey Leo Gainey, 74, of South Bend, Indiana, passed away peacefully at home with family by his side, on Sunday, March 23, 2025. Jeff was born on November 29, 1950, to Thomas Patrick and Helen Marie (née Mellberg) Gainey, in Ithaca, New York.
He was the husband of Susan Marie (née Keen) Gainey, and loving father to Molly Rose Gainey of South Bend, Patrick Thomas Gainey of Dunedin, Florida, and Dylan Joseph Gainey of Raleigh, North Carolina, and cherished grandfather to Molly's children, Josie, Aubrey, and Thomas. Jeff is also survived by his siblings, Chris Gainey (daughter Beth) of Florida, Rose Gainey of New Jersey, and Barry Gainey (Maryellen/sons Tom & Jack) of New Jersey.
Jeff went to St. Andrews Seminary in Rochester, NY for high school. He then went on to the University of Notre Dame, spending his sophomore year at a program in Tokyo, traveling all over Japan. After graduation from Notre Dame Class of 1972, Jeff moved to Minnesota to be a Religion teacher for 3 years at a Catholic high school. Jeff, ("JLee" as we called him in those days!) returned to his family home in Ridgewood, NJ, where he was an English teacher for 2 years at a public high school in Paterson, NJ. His students loved him, because he helped them and cared about them, and they could feel that.
Jeff then moved back to South Bend to work at the hospital as a Counselor, where he met his future wife, "Suse", as he called her. He then decided to return to ND to earn his MBA Degree, which he did in 1984.
Jeff went on to work for several years at a bank, as an Auditor, Manager, and Vice President. He then worked at his favorite job, at Notre Dame Press as an Editor and Publisher, for 10 years. He then worked at University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, where he also edited and published books. All of his life, Jeff loved books, music, lyrics, poetry, & movies, & enjoyed sharing them with his loved ones!
Jeff also worked for many years as Manager at Bruno's Pizzeria in South Bend.
Jeff was smart, fun & funny, caring & compassionate. He read everything he could find and could talk about any & every subject. He was very proud of his Irish heritage, on both his dad's side and his mom's side, he LOVED ND and ND football games! Jeff also loved New York City, where he would load up our parents' station wagon with visiting cousins & friends & drive us into Manhattan for his "tour", first stop always St. Patrick's Cathedral. For Jeff, being Irish-Catholic and being a patriotic American were very important to him all of his life.
Jeff was a man of many talents and skills, but most importantly, he was a great son, grandson, brother, cousin, husband, father, uncle, grandfather, friend and mentor. Like his father before him, Jeff was a great storyteller and had a wonderful sense of humor.
Jeffrey Leo Gainey was a good man and a great man. He will live on in our hearts forever, during happy times and difficult times. May God rest Jeff's good soul.
The family would like to extend a heart felt thank you to Patrick Dylan and especially to Molly for all their love and care, and to the Center for Hospice for all they did for Jeffrey and his family.
A private family service will take place at a later date. Hahn Funeral Home has been entrusted to handle the final arrangements.
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