Jeffrey Alan Metcalfe

Jeffrey Alan Metcalfe passed away in his home in Fort Collins on February 17, 2025. He was 60 years old.

Jeff was a highly accomplished financial advisor at TIAA. He won numerous awards, including the prestigious Financial Consultant Performance Reward for being TIAA’s top performing financial consultant in 2024. His work regularly brought him to destinations across the country, allowing him to explore unfamiliar cities through site visits, conversations with strangers, new restaurants, and unique drinks (he particularly loved microbrews). Jeff was proud to work in a role that helped people – he loved supporting others in building fulfilling lives by assisting them with their finances and retirement planning.

Beyond work, Jeff had many passions: he loved listening to rock music and going to concerts, cooking delicious meals for himself and others (he even catered BBQ at one point) weight lifting, hiking, snowboarding, biking, and caring for his house and garden. Jeff was very athletic: he competed in 100+ mile bike races and could bench press over 225 lbs at age 60. He was an avid reader of the Wall Street Journal and stayed up to date on current events, movies, and TV shows.

Above all, Jeff’s biggest passion and proudest achievement was his family: he devoted much of his life to spending time with his daughters, Kara and Andra Metcalfe, and his parents, Gary and Kathleen Bendlin. Throughout their adulthood, Jeff regularly met with Kara and Andra to grab dinner, snowboard, attend events, and cook meals for them at his home in Fort Collins. Whenever Andra was in Colorado, he traveled over an hour to meet her for weightlifting sessions and to talk (argue) about politics, which they both enjoyed. When Kara signed up to run in races, he made it a point to congratulate her at every finish line. Jeff frequently told his daughters how much he loved them and how proud he felt to be their father.

Jeff was born on October 17, 1964 to Kathleen and Alan Metcalfe in Bozeman, Montana. After Alan passed away in an accident in 1975, Jeff was raised by Kathleen and her husband, Gary Bendlin. As part of an Air Force family, Jeff spent his childhood traveling the world; he lived in Montana, North Carolina, Germany, California, Arizona, and Hawaii.

In 1987, Jeff received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Boston University. He received his Master’s in Business Administration from Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management in 1991. He then moved to Colorado, his long term home, to work as Director of Trading at Northfield Trading LP for 17 years. Jeff worked a number of other trading and financial roles until landing in his most recent position at TIAA in 2014.

In 1996, Jeff married Laura Hill (Metcalfe) in Denver, Colorado. They raised their children, Kara and Andra, together in Highlands Ranch, Colorado until separating in 2012. After their separation, Jeff maintained a consistent, supportive presence in Kara and Andra’s childhood through weekly dinners, soccer games, concerts, graduations, and meetings to run or lift weights. Jeff spent much of his final year in the company of Tonnett Luedtke, his partner who he loved very much.

Jeff is survived by his two children, Kara and Andra Metcalfe, his mother and stepfather, Kathleen and Gary Bendlin of Roxborough, CO, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins. A celebration of life will be held at 6pm on March 12, 2025, at Diebolt Brewing Company, 3855 Mariposa St., Denver, Colorado 80211, with an informal reception to follow.

Jeff was passionate about virtually everything, but some of his most frequent mentions were abortion access and free speech. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to his memorial fundraiser at https://gofund.me/0448da41. Following his service, funds will be equally distributed to Planned Parenthood of the Rockies, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness for Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

“Eat at a local restaurant tonight. Get the cream sauce. Have a cold pint at 4 o’clock in a mostly empty bar. Go somewhere you’ve never been. Listen to someone you think may have nothing in common with you. Order the steak rare. Eat an oyster. Have a negroni. Have two. Be open to a world where you may not understand or agree with the person next to you, but have a drink with them anyways. Eat slowly. Tip your server. Check in on your friends. Check in on yourself. Enjoy the ride.” – Anthony Bourdain