JEFF BODWIN

There's no way to sugar coat this one. Jeff Bodwin was as obnoxious as they come. I think Jeff liked to think that he TRIED to be obnoxious in order to justify his true self. His true self was that he was in fact naturally obnoxious. He didn't need to try.

I met Jeff in freshman year, in Mr. Heuer's algebra class. He sat next to me, and behind Shawn Rappley. The three of us had many conversations that year. I liked Shawn a lot more.

Around that time, there was a somewhat popular book entitled "101 Uses For A Dead Cat." No doubt inspired, Jeff started a list of 101 uses for used foreskin. He liked my answer of "bottle cap." But he was put into hysterics by my second answer of "gum." It wasn't THAT funny Jeff.

One day Jeff came into class a tad bit late. He was red-faced and whimpering, trying his best to hold back tears. Apparently he'd just gotten into a small fight with Ken Bartz. Little Ken obviously came out on top.

Jeff never had to take gym class. He had some minor ailment that kept him out of it. It was nothing serious. It may have been knee surgery or something that he'd had the year before. I don't know that for sure though. But I do recall him bragging that he was going to be able to get out of gym class the entire time he was in high school. Jeff stated that he could have participated. But since he could get excused, why not? I certainly can't argue with that logic. Had he actually gone to gym class, I don't think he would have thrived. Jeff was a pretty big boy.

Jeff was smart. He was also smug and cocky. He was a natural born asshole. Don't ask him for a favor. He wasn't going to give it.

Richard told me that he'd had some very bizarre conversations with Jeff. I believe they took place in freshman year, possibly in Spanish class. Richard said that Jeff talked about creating some bizarre machinery which featured some sort of pulley system that he could strap naked women to, for the purposes of spreading their legs, so he could rape them. I could be wrong about this. But Jeff may have actually drawn some of the designs for these devices. Was he joking? Or was he some sick, perverted creep? Who knows. But even the usually unflappable Richard found these particular conversations quite disturbing.

Richard and Jeff used to have pencil fights after school. They would try to mark each other up in the face. How that ever started is beyond me.

In our sophomore year, I found myself in the company of Richard and Jeff after school one day. In a moment of defiance, I found myself jumping up and down on small bush. Mr. Sustman came out and threw a fit. But he didn't know me. He demanded to know who I was. I refused to tell him, and walked away. By late afternoon of the next day, I got called into Mr. Wood's office, and was given two detentions. Mr. Sustman knew Jeff. And Jeff had told on me the next day, when he got called in. In retaliation, I took all the gears off of Jeff's bike.

In our junior or senior year (perhaps both) he somehow found himself a girlfriend, in the likes of Marilyn Duprey. Miracles never cease. My friend Dave told me that he ran into Jeff at the hospital (Dave had a job in the kitchen) and found him crying in the hall. Apparently Marilyn had been admitted for something. Dave hugged him.

On our senior video, Jeff made some sort of comment along the likes of, "Most of you probably don't like me. And the feeling is mutual." It was easy to read what he was really saying. He was laughing and smirking as he said it. He knew that very few liked him. That was a given. But he tried to maintain that he had never liked any of them either, and that's the reason why he acted like such an ass. But that's not true. The truth is that Jeff was an ass first. And that's the reason why people didn't like him.

Last I'd heard, Jeff was in Michigan. I don't believe he was married.

UPDATE - 1/26/07 - Below is the above-mentioned clip from the senior video.



UPDATE - 1/29/07 - It appears as if Jeff was in Michigan for college. But he's apparently graduated. In fact, he has earned his P.H.D. Impressive! Today he is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry for the Minnesota State University, at Moorhead. According to his teacher ratings, he's pretty well-liked for the most part.

UPDATE - 10/5/07 - I found a tiny picture of Jeff on some website for his realtor. Sometimes you find things in odd places.



UPDATE - 10/8/07 - I received a couple of E-mails from one of Jeff's students in college. He said Jeff is a pretty cool guy who really knows his stuff. He also found my blog entry to be absolutely hilarious - especially the Youtube clip. Poor Jeff. I hope he doesn't get any grief over this.

Anyway, he sent me to a link which had a recent picture of Jeff. He seems to have ditched those giant glasses. He's in the back row, on the far left.