Byline: David Milstead
ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS
At the memorial service for Jeffrey Baer, a senior vice president of First Data Corp., a woman approached his widow, Rebecca Van Buren, and fondly recalled interviewing with Baer for a job.
``She distinctly remembered the interview and remembered his enthusiasm and kindness,'' Van Buren said.
The interview was not last month, or last year; it was two decades ago.
Such is the impact that Mr. Baer made not just at First Data, where he worked for many years in two separate stints, but in the other things he did with his life:
Travel the world. Own the Famous Amos Cookie Co. Found Family Travel magazine. And raise four children who are following in his achieving footsteps, from Harvard to Cornell to Graland Country Day.
Mr. Baer died Jan. 16 of cancer at the age of 54.
``Our one regret,'' said Van Buren, his wife of 31 years, ``is he didn't continue to be the great dad he was for a longer time.''
Mr. Baer was in charge of global real estate for First Data, a Fortune 500 company in Greenwood Village that employs 29,000 people. Yet his resume was more varied than that of the typical corporate climber.
Born in Milwaukee, Mr. Baer graduated from Cornell University in 1970 from the school's college of Hotel Management. His first hospitality job took him to Pago Pago in American Samoa. After a stint in the Army, Mr. Baer and Van Buren decided to see the world - so they backpacked through 34 countries in nine months.
He joined Tele- check, now a First Data subsidiary, in 1975, and eventually rose to president. But other pursuits beckoned.
``He never had the conservative view of 'I'll stay here for the next 20 years and collect my retirement,' '' Van Buren said. ``He was ready for the next adventure.''
That included joining his brother, Ronald Baer, of Golden, in buying the Famous Amos Cookie Co. and moving the headquarters to Denver. Also during the 1980s, he and Van Buren founded Family Travel magazine.
Mr. Baer returned to Telecheck in the 1990s and served in a number of positions, including chief operating officer. Given an opportunity to work for Tele- check's Australian operations, the family packed up for another adventure.
``If we were looking at it today, knowing we had a chance to live in Australia and we didn't, we'd ask, 'Why not?' '' Van Buren said.
Mr. Baer took on his First Data corporate role in 2000. As the senior vice president for real estate, he oversaw many of the worldwide company's building projects, including First Data's newest building at its Meridian campus in Greenwood Village.
``He would become incredibly excited about things that would help every employee,'' said Mike Whealy, First Data's chief administrative officer. He recalls Mr. Baer doing extensive work on which fluorescent lighting would be easiest on employees' eyes.
Yet Mr. Baer generally looked outward, broadly, when First Data was not the issue.
``Jeff was not an academic, but he was an intellectual,'' Whealy said. ``He had a true world view . . . that we were part of a larger community.''
In addition to Van Buren, Mr. Baer is survived by sons Daniel, Peter and Lyle; and daughter Merritt.
As Van Buren surveyed the memorial service last Monday, with their children, their friends, their colleagues and all their memories, another mourner summed up Mr. Baer's life and achievements for her.
``Nothing is missing. It's all still here.''
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Jeffrey Baer wasn't content to stand still for long.