Pleva, Jeff
From Spearfish Lake Tales Wiki
Jeff Pleva is a retired school bus driver and has been working for Canyon Tours for over ten years. "He was also the run-and-go-get guy for the office, and proved to be good at fixing rafts and gear, too. And, more, though he wasn't a rafter, he was a big component of the glue that held the company together, at an age well into his seventies."CF16 He makes his first trip on the river for Al Buck's wedding in 2001. Jeff has worked for Al and Louise Buck longer than even David and Mary Wells.
Jeff is described as wiry, elderly and balding while the description of the Canyon Tours bus is "an old brown-painted short-bodied former school bus."CF01 Jeff runs the gear and crew from Flagstaff to Lee's Ferry a day before a trip begins and makes the pickup at Diamond Creek after the trip is over. Ray Reynolds is his substitute on the rare occasions that Jeff doesn't do it.
Jeff served in the Army during World War 2. He married a friend, Marjorie, before shipping out by eloping to Las Vegas in April, 1945. One month after celebrating their 56th anniversary, Jeff was finally convinced to ride in a raft down the Grand Canyon to witness Al and Karin Buck's wedding.CF22 Marjorie watched the otherwise empty store.CF16
