In tribute: Jay Neff found ways to give more than he received

CLOVIS — By any measure, Jay Neff was a success in the financial industry, from his rise in the local banking industry to more than 20 years of success in the title business he and his son recently expanded.

But Neff, who died March 1, always found a way to give more than he received — be it his love, his time, his knowledge, his humor or his values, friends and family said.

Neff spent his entire life in Clovis, save the months he spent attending New Mexico State University. He met his wife Deana Keslar when she was a server at the Cook’s truck stop. Their first date didn’t go as planned — Jay, for some reason, didn’t make it — but everything clicked from the second date and they married after four years of dating.

“It was just all God’s plan; I really do think that,” said Deana. “I knew I was going to marry him. He told me he felt the same way.”

Deana always marveled at how Jay made time for the wife he always called “Princess,” the son he handed down the name Michele (Italian, pronounced “muh-kel-ee”) and Sadie, his Australian Shepherd and daily two-mile walk partner. But the cell phone was always on if there was a client or some volunteer effort.

Following his graduation from NMSU, Neff started as a teller at Sunwest Bank and worked his way up to vice president before he got into property management with Arno Massey. In 1999, he passed up a chance to return to banking and instead purchased a downtown title and abstract company.

“The banking industry came to be where big banks were buying up the small-town banks,” Deana said. “He decided he wanted to be his own boss, and he got that opportunity with Landmark.”

At the office, he was always known for his sense of humor. He normally dished out jokes through the office’s weekly donkey award that lightheartedly discourage making mistakes while acknowledging they happen, and took any return joke in stride.

“He had a dry sense of humor,” said Leo Lovett, who called Jay irreplaceable. “You had to look for it.”

The business prospered, with each deal building the reputation of Neff and Landmark, and earlier this year the business absorbed Portales-based Graham Title and Abstract. The legacy has passed on to Michele, who came in to help when his dad had a medical scare in 2015 and found he enjoyed the work.

“You can be very well off with a title company; you can also lose a lot on a title company,” Michele said. “It’s a huge feat to buy your first home or even finance your multimillion dollar (agricultural business). It’s all about trust.”

Through the 20-plus years, Jay always found time for his family, frequently calling his wife two to three times daily from the office. Away from the grind, he loved any outdoor activity — be it hunting, fishing or tending to his own yard — and developed a passion for flying with his dad’s history as a World War II pilot. He never missed the news, and never missed a chance to fire up the grill.

“It could be 10 degrees out,” Deana said, “and he’d be outside asking, ‘What do you want to eat, princess?’”

Neff had countless volunteer accomplishments, including years of service to the Clovis Committee of Fifty and his work establishing Ag 50. He was also a past president for the Clovis Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Clovis Rotary Club and First United Methodist Church.

“He told me to always volunteer and think of others, just try to help whoever you can,” Michele said. “I think he learned that from his dad (Sam Neff). He saved thousands of lives here as a general surgeon.”