By Mike Pearson
FightingIllini.com
To his clientele during his 40-year business career in Phoenix, he's familiarly identified as "Jeff from State Farm". But prior to that, Jeff Jirele achieved personal fame as one of the University of Illinois' most outstanding all-time distance runners.
A native of Austin, Minn., and a four-time Fighting Illini letterwinner, Jirele refers to people who've helped inspire and motivate him along the way as "heroes.""I've always been big on finding my heroes and overcoming my fears," he told a reporter from Down the Backstretch, a Minnesota running publication, a few years back.
Jirele's earliest hero was Larry Gilbertson, his first coach at Austin High School and a man who was known for motivating his athletes by believing in their skill before they did.
"Most runners—not all—end up running because they're not very good at other sports," Jirele said. "Running is very painful. If you could be a football jock or a basketball star, most of us would choose that, but I wasn't very good at anything else. I turned out to be pretty good at running and it helped my self-esteem and my self-confidence issues. Gradually, I got a little bit better."
From prep cross country and track, Jirele's next challenge came at Golden Valley Lutheran Junior College, coached by Sev Legred. There Jirele won the National Junior College Cross Country Championship in 1974 and the NJCC mile titles in 1974 and '75.
His successes then caught the attention of his next hero, University of Illinois athletics' Hall of Fame coach Gary Wieneke.
"I had great respect for Coach Wieneke because of the middle-distance program that he had at Illinois," Jirele said. "Coach was famous for his milers and half-milers, and that was my event. And the fact that Craig Virgin was a superstar at Illinois influenced me as well."
Jirele would soon discover that, to him, Wieneke would eventually become much more than a coach.
"Coach was like a father to me," he said. "We had a bond that we kept until he passed away. He'd come to Arizona for a week or two during the wintertime and his athletes would go back (to Champaign) once or twice a year to visit him. All of us athletes, for whatever reason, wanted to impress him. There was something special about Coach. When you call someone 'coach', that's a special word, whatever sport you're in. All of us wanted to run well for him. We all loved him. His first wife, June, was always part of that; so kind and generous. Coach made us all part of his family. Because of him, we all strived to be great."
Jirele has been a generous contributor to the construction of the track facility at Demirjian Park. He encourages current day Illini athletes to learn more about the man whose name graces the track on which they perform.
"In this day and age, for someone to have their name on a facility is so incredible," he said. "But there was something special about this man; he had it all. You're embracing greatness, you're embracing faith, you're embracing how can I be successful in life."
Upon his graduation from Illinois in 1977, Jirele continued his running career with the Santa Monica Track Club in California. That decision would ultimately result in an achievement that only a handful of former Illini can claim: a sub-four-minute-mile performance (in 1978 at Stockholm, Sweden). Though he finished eighth in the race, his time of 3:58.3 was a signature accomplishment.
"For me, it was very magical," Jirele said. "I was just so ecstatic. I sent postcards from Europe to all my coaches—from high school to junior college to Coach Wieneke. I told them that without them this wouldn't have happened. They had all contributed to my success that day."
Thanks to modern technology, Jirele enjoys almost daily contact with his former Illini teammates.
"We still text nearly every day," he said. "It was a special group of people. Our personalities all clicked. We were people of faith. From Virgin to Mike Durkin to Rob Mango to Charlie White to Rich Brooks to Mark Rodgers to many others. We still get together once a year and this year we'll all be back in Champaign in April for an alumni meet to get a history going with all the younger Illini."
Today, Jirele is at the tail-end of his State Farm career. His office is located south of Phoenix, just off Interstate 10 at the Ahwatukee foothills. He's given away all his personal properties and intends to spend the balance of his life living at world-famous resorts, including his current "home" at the Phoenician Resort in nearby Scottsdale.
"I lived at The Plaza in New York City for three months a few years ago and lived at the Hotel del Coronado (San Diego) for three months last summer," Jirele said. "A few friends of mine who were younger than me died out of the blue, so I decided that, within my means, I was going to live large, give large and serve large. I think I'm the only person here that does what I do, but I've made so many friends. When I was in New York, I decided to go to an opera. My whole life I thought I would hate opera, then I found out that I loved it. I tried yoga for two weeks. Well, I hated it, but I'm glad I tried it. So I'm trying to do different things in my life versus what I've done the first 60 years of my life."
For the remainder of his days, Jirele, who was enrolled in seminary for a year, will say a daily prayer that sums up the way he intends to live: "Lord, keep me broken ... keep me humble ... keep me grateful ... keep me still. Help me to keep watch. Send me strength, courage, confidence and wisdom so I can fulfill my divine destiny, live into my divine birthright, and co-create with You."
And as he heads toward his 69th revolution around planet Earth, Jirele's focus will be on maintaining lifelong friendships and serving others.
"I intend to strive for greatness in whatever I do, whether it's little or big," he said. "I will also try to help and support young people and do what I can to help their success."
