Finding the right words in times of sadness and nostalgia is hard. Although no comments do justice to Jeff’s memory, we want to express our gratitude and affection to him, his memory, and those close to him.
Jeff Paschke was a great friend, colleague, and ally over the years. We met him when he was still the editor and publisher of Medellín Living, and it was a great joy when he told us about his new project: Medellín Guru.
Medellín Guru soon went from being a project to becoming his inspiration, driving force, and most incredible pride. Since its launch on July 20, 2017, it began to strengthen what became the largest community of foreigners in Medellín, positioning itself as a primary information source.
In his portal, he covered, in a permanent, updated, and reliable way, topics of interest such as tourism, health in Colombia, culture, rentals, business, visas, and much other valuable information for the entire expat community, honoring his name as a GURU, because although he never claimed to have answers to all questions, he was happy to share his knowledge.
Undoubtedly, thousands of people over the years have benefited from Jeff’s advice through his popular site www.MedellinGuru.com, as he fed his articles from his own experiences from the perspective of an American living in Medellin.
He always looked out for the interests of the expat community. With a strong interest in providing confidence, knowledge, and experience so that foreigners could make better decisions when visiting the country or moving to start a new life or purpose in Colombia.
We are sure that many of our readers were also part of Jeff’s expat network and that, like us, they remember with nostalgia the Medellín Guru Meet Up, the largest monthly event for foreigners in Medellín. An event that regularly gathered more than 200 attendees around different gastronomic references of the city, such as the ‘Mercados del Rio‘, and whose purpose was to promote cultural exchange and experiences, as well as to bring visitors a range of professional services to facilitate their stay in Colombia, where expatgroup.co had the honor of always being the official partner in legal and immigration matters.
These events have become a flagship, an excuse to meet, connect and share with laughter. From these events, great alliances were born to promote business and local projects. Still, more than anything else, valuable friendships were born, allowing Jeff’s purpose to be more and more realized.
Sadly, today we have to say goodbye to Jeff, a great friend, and ally to the entire expatgroup.co team. With nostalgia and gratitude, we highlight and recognize Jeff’s work for so many years, with the sincere wish that his legacy may live on forever.
We offer our sincere condolences and support to his wife, family, friends, and loved ones at this difficult time.
With deepest sympathy,
expatgroup team
Jeff was a great person and friend; whoever knew him knew he was a person with a big heart, and he helped Medellin to be known as the best city to live in.Thank you, Jeff, for so much!Have a good trip, friend.
Very sad news – Jeff helped me significantly with his extensive knowledge on living in Colombia. He introduced me to the expat company which processed my M visa. My condolences to his family.
That’s right, Geoff, no one could bring the expat community together as he did. Regards
Oh no. Sorry to hear this news. I got lots of excellent advice from his blog.
Indeed, Andy, this is shocking news for everyone. Regards
From the moment I discovered Medellin Guru searching for information on Medellin as my wife and I planned to relocate there, I found Jeff’s Medellin Guru to be very informative and totally truthful. I very much wanted to meet Jeff. The last time I was in Medellin was Oct. 2019, and coincidentally I will be arriving in Medellin this coming Oct. 19. In 2019 I said to myself «on my next visit to Medellin and I am going to look for Jeff, and fortunately due to the Covid pandemic there were no visits to Medellin until now again.
My condolences to Jeff’s family. Me apena mucho haber recibido esta noticia. Valla con Dios Jeff the Medellin Guru.
Medellín Guru was and will continue to be one of the best guides for foreigners wishing to live in Colombia, specifically Medellin. Thank you for your comments
I am very sorry to hear this sad news. Jeff helped me significantly with transitioning to Colombia the past two years. Our sincere condolences & prayers for his family.
My son is now living in Medellin. I lived in Bogota when I was a kid but it’s been a while. I’m now in Seattle. Jeff was the first person I contacted for advice. He was fabulous. I loved his insights about doings in Medellin, where to go, where to meet. I used the services listed in his site, such as getting health insurance. I never met him in person but I felt like he was a friend.
Erik Lacitis
Seattle, WA
MedellinGuru was and is my go to site for information not only for living in Medellin but for Colombia. I met Jeff at one of the meetups and he seemed to be a warm and gentle soul. Whenever I had friends coming to or asking about Colombia or met a new expat here I always recommended going to his website because of it’s wealth of information across so many topics.
Thank you, Jeff for your passion and for shining a guiding light into all things Colombian. May you rest in peace.
Jeff and I met over lunch one day about three years ago when we shared our professional ideas with each other. We started to build a friendship and I’m so sorry that he’s now not with us. I hope that those of us who want to continue his Meet-up group get togethers will do so soon!! Forming new friendships and alliances here in medellin will be in his honor.
I was really shocked to hear the news. (Thank you, expatgroup, for having an In Memoriam – I might never have known otherwise.) I never met Jeff but I’m guessing we’re of a similar age – which is to say way too young to be leaving this world and Colombia behind. As other expats have mentioned, Jeff and Medellin Guru were invaluable for making the transition to living in Colombia. My heart goes out to Jeff’s family and loved ones.
Jeff was friend of mine. I met him about three years ago when we enjoyed having lunch together and met at the Medellin Guru group meetings. Jeff was instrumental in helping to grow the expat community here in Medellin. The Meet-up group and the Patreon web portal were ways he expanded connectivity for all of us. I hope we continue to carry the honor of celebrating our living here in Medellin by continuing his mission.
Our condolences to you from Palestine on the sad news of the death of Brother Jeff
RIP. Jeff, great website with great knowledge and he was always there to answer any questions!
Lo lamento este mucho. Le debemos mucho a él por todas las que hizo para ayudarnos. Un caballero verdadero y rezo por su familia