NATICK: Robert Wayne “R.W.” Jeffrey, age 71, a devoted family man, died at Beverly Hospital on Monday morning, February 9, 2015, after falling ill at his Topsfield home. He was the loving husband of Kathleen (McCauley) Jeffrey for 42 years.
Born in Somerville and raised in Natick, he was the son of the late Robert E. and Katherine M. (Calandrella) Jeffrey. After graduating from Natick High School Class of 1961 he served in the Army National Guard and attended Burdett Business School in Boston. During this time, he sold Cutco knives, leading the nation in sales in 1963.
Bob embarked on his career in staffing services with Shamrock Personnel in Boston in 1965, where he met his future wife Kathy. After several years in the staffing business Bob felt ready to strike out on his own and co-founded Scott-Wayne Associates, an executive placement company in Boston. He soon added Franklin Pierce Associates, also in Boston, a company focused on both permanent and temporary staffing. As a true entrepreneur, Bob opened and acquired additional organizations including Management Associates Company of Boston and Topsfield, where the Jeffreys had made their home since 1988. In 1997, Bob combined all of his companies into one, the Jeffrey Staffing Group. He later sold the Group to a nationally recognized N.Y.S.E. staffing organization and served as an adviser and consultant for a period thereafter. Bob Jeffrey is considered by his contemporaries to be one of the visionary forerunners in the growth and development of the multibillion dollar national staffing services industry.
Bob had an insatiable appetite for learning and an encyclopedic knowledge about his favorite artists, particularly Frank Sinatra and John Wayne, and enjoyed reading and collecting memorabilia. He had a passion for helping those in need that was matched only by his humility, and he engaged in numerous anonymous charitable endeavors throughout his lifetime.
He is survived by his wife Kathy; their son, Robert E. Jeffrey of Topsfield; and daughter, Jennifer M. Jeffrey of Topsfield; his sister, Diane Crosby and her husband Donald of Venice, FL; and many nieces, nephews, and their families. He was also the brother of the late Barbara Thomas.
His funeral will be from the John Everett & Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park Street at Natick Common, on Tuesday, February 17th, at 10:00AM with a Mass of Christian Burial at Saint Linus Church, 119 Hartford Street, Natick at 11:00AM. Burial will follow at Saint Patrick Cemetery.
Visiting hours will be Monday 4 – 8PM. Donations
may be made in Bob’s memory to the charity of one’s choice.