Jeffrey Marshall Wemmer

Jeffrey Marshall Wemmer, 60, of Odessa, Texas, passed away on Sunday, August 6, 2023, after a devastating battle with pancreatic cancer. Services will be held at 2 p.m., Saturday August 19, 2023, at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Odessa, Texas.

Jeffrey was born as Peter Marshall on May 20,1963 in Annapolis, Maryland. He spent a short time in foster care before being adopted in Severna Park, MD by his loving parents, Jack and Nancy Wemmer. He gained three older brothers and an older sister and was given the name Jeffrey Marshall. At 6 years old, Jeff was lovingly nicknamed “Otis” after his brothers’ high school friend, Otis Johnson, whom Jeff admired and looked up to.

Growing up, Jeff loved the outdoors and spent many days fishing, hiking, hunting, and playing sports such as lacrosse and baseball. He had a profound love for dogs, his first sporting companion being a Golden Retriever named Tawny. Around the age of 9 or 10, Jeff suffered an eye injury from a fish spine that pierced his left eye and became severely infected. Just short of losing his eye entirely, Jeff was declared legally blind in that eye, and was later rejected from Navy enlistment in 1980. He went on to become an avid duck hunter, duck carver, and would later work as a duck hunting field guide off the coast of Delaware.

Jeff graduated high school in St. Michael’s, Maryland in 1981 and immediately began work as a commercial fisherman in the north Atlantic. After several years at sea, he enrolled at Salisbury University where he played rugby, worked at his brother’s restaurant, and played saxophone in a local bar band. At age 22, Jeff was temporarily out of commission due to a terrible motorcycle accident in which he spent the better part of a year in a full body cast. This confinement just added to his persistence and resolve to conquer the world. Deciding that a regimented college schedule was not for him, Jeff began road cycling and moved to Florida in the late 80’s. There, he worked in a bike shop, became a professional cyclist, and found himself at many outdoor trade shows.

As fate would have it, one of these trade shows led him to meet the founders of Camelbak, a backpack hydration company that uses bite valves as a hands-free alternative. Jeff saw great potential in this brand-new technology and began taking the packs to his races to sell them. His energy and enthusiasm were undeniable and Camelbak hired him in 1993. They bought him a motorcycle that he attached his road bike to, and he traveled the nation, wearing, racing, and selling Camelbaks straight from the back of his bike. As crazy as it sounded, he was just as successful! Ultimately, Jeff was instrumental in getting Camelbak off the ground and providing the traction it needed to grow into the company it is today.

Jeff moved to Odessa, Texas in the late 1990s where he began planning a business venture of his own. During this time, he spent many memorable days at the Flag Ranch where he learned all about being a cowboy as a ranch hand from his dear friend Billy and the late Buster Cole. The ranch was where Jeff developed his love for quail and dove hunting and spoke very fondly of this time in his life.

In 1998, he and fellow Camelbak associate, Bryan Heflin, began Best Made Designs, home of Spec.Ops Brand® tactical gear. During this time, Jeff moved into a little house where he would meet his future wife, Lauri, and her two small children that lived across the street.  Fondly known as “Jeffie” by the kids, they were neighbors for a couple of years before he began frequenting the restaurant where she worked. He drew future product designs on cocktail napkins and charmed her with his sense of humor, multitude of metaphors, countless stories, and endless adventures. After a short romance and to her father’s surprise, they eloped on May 19, 2000, in Lovington, NM where they often went hiking in the nearby mountains.

The new millennium was a big one for Jeff. Besides getting married, Best Made Designs moved into an old vacant sewing factory in Monahans, Texas. Here, they began making combat-grade tactical nylon products to help organize soldiers, law enforcement, and any tactical teams to improve their performance in the field. Although he never got to serve in the military, through his company, Jeff made it his life work to support and honor all that do serve. In the process of creating their products, they pioneered a new product category: “gear management and organization.” To this day, the items produced are 100% proudly made in the USA, even down to the thread, and is an un-negotiable requirement in their manufacturing.

Jeff’s achievements were many, but he prided his family as being number one. On May 10, 2001, his future hunting buddy and future gun enthusiast, Marshall Ray Wemmer was born. He took Marshall on his very first hunting trip when he was a mere 3 years old. When Marshall got accepted into the United States Military Academy in 2019, Jeff beamed with pride and wore out every West Point shirt he owned. It was a great honor for Jeff to watch his son shoot competitively on the West Point Skeet and Trap team and loved to join the team on the range at practice and at informal gatherings.

Jeff was an outstanding shot himself and in 2004 reached #2 overall in the M16 carbine military rifle segment at the International Tactical Rifleman’s Championships. Jeff is also the Double Barrel World Record holder on most doves shot in one day, shooting 5,272 doves in Cordoba, Argentina on June 12, 2011. He also enjoyed big game hunting; specifically, elephants and cape buffalo, and hunted several times all across Africa.

Jeff is survived by his wife Lauri Wemmer; sons Marshall Wemmer and Andrew Madden; daughter Ashley Archer and husband Isiah; grandchildren Bentley, Kennedy, and Zayvin; brother David Wemmer and wife Patricia; brother Gregory Wemmer and wife Joy; sister Jan Wemmer; nieces Jennifer, Ann, Chrissy, and Megan; nephews Michael and Jack Wemmer.

Jeff is preceded in death by his parents, Jack and Nancy Wemmer, brother Bill Wemmer, nephew Matthew Wemmer, nephew Chris Wemmer, grandson Nolan Madden, and his beloved dogs: Tawny, Moose, Wesson, Lightn’n, and Thunder.

The family would like to express their deepest gratitude to the Midland Memorial Emergency Room staff, the 8^th floor nurses, the 7^th floor oncology nurses, and the Midland Memorial hospitalist team that took care of Jeff during his brief illness.  Your compassion and friendship truly made an impact during this most difficult time.

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to St. John’s Episcopal School in Odessa, Texas or to the Wounded Warrior Project.

Arrangements are under the direction of Nalley-Pickle & Welch Funeral Home and Crematory of Midland. Online condolences may be made at www.npwelch.com.

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