Jeffrey "Jeff" Lee Ankerson, 68, of South Boardman passed away Thursday, November 27, 2025.

Jeff believed in God, knew Jesus as his savior. He was born in Germany to the late Paul and Cyrilene (Grover) Ankerson on July 27, 1957 while his dad was serving in the Army.

Jeff loved his country, he served in the army from 1977 through 1980. He served his time in Germany. He did a lot of sightseeing, one of his favorite times was seeing the Olympic Stadium in Munich. He also served in the United States Marine Corps from 1981 to 1984. He was very proud to earn the Eagle, Globe, and an Anchor. He also earned the expert rifle badge, and sharps shooter pistol badges, shooting the old 1911 through 45.

Jeff loved the outdoors. He went Whitewater rafting five times. He loved to kayak, canoe and camp. He went to Alaska and saw Mount McKinley. He also hiked in the North Cascades National Park around Mount Baker and Mount Schuckson. He love to hunt Whitetail deer with archery and rifle. He enjoyed going to his cousin's deer camp in the UP. The Huron mountains were beautiful. He was blessed to hunt with Bear recurves. He harvested some beautiful white tail bucks, he also harvested two huge caribou in Ontario, also a trophy bobcat in the UP. It weighed in on a certified scale at 42 pounds. A true trophy.

He snowshoed in his younger years and he enjoyed military history. He read a lot about the Civil War and World War II. He loved riding his Harley Davidson, he owned four different ones. A strong supporter of the second amendment, he really enjoyed shooting at the range with his two sons and grandson.

Jeff is survived by his three beautiful children; daughter, Melanie (Kevin) Earl, oldest son, Dustin (Sara) a combat marine, his youngest son Kelby, an Eagle Scout; his grandchildren, Logan and Analeigh, three sisters, Deb, Joni and Lori and many nieces and nephews cousins and friends.

A memorial service will be held at 1pm on Saturday, December 6, 2025 at LifePoint Bible Church. Memorial contributions may be directed to the church.

Jeff was blessed to have many beautiful times in the outdoors. He valued the Marine Corps, tough standards, character, hard work and building America.

God bless America and Semper FI