Jeff was born on the day after Valentine’s Day in February of 1966 in Hutchinson, Kansas to Phill and Trudy Crupper. Jeff’s dad was a college student at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas and worked nights at the Carey Salt mines in Hutchinson, while his mother also worked to help support the young family. At the age of four shortly after the birth of his sister Angie, his father graduated from college and the family moved to Bartlesville, Oklahoma where his dad had been offered a job in the credit department at Phillips 66 gasoline company.

The young family lived in Bartlesville for only about two years before Jeff’s dad was offered a job with Vickers Petroleum in Wichita, Kansas closer to their home of Hutchinson. The family picked up and moved to Newton, Kansas a short 20 minute commute from Wichita where they would stay until Jeff completed the sixth grade. In the summer of 1978 the family once again moved this time to the far away land of Texas where Jeff’s father Phill had been offered a job as credit manager for Intermedics a company that specialized in making pacemakers and other medical products.

While living in Lake Jackson, Texas Jeff would begin a life-long friendship with another new student, Goran Jezic who had recently moved to Lake Jackson with his parents from Michigan when his father took a job as a research chemist for Dow Chemical who operated a large facility in nearby Clute, Texas. The two boys remained friends and as they grew found that they each shared an interest in music. In their sophomore year of high school the duo formed what would be Jeff’s first band, Voyager. The pair wrote a series of songs together and the band entered into the school’s talent show, eventually going on to win first place, and spurring Jeff’s life-long interest in music.

In 1982 after his sophomore year of high school, Jeff and his family moved to Sugar Land, Texas a suburb of Houston where his father had taken a job with Getty Oil. Jeff continued his love of music, playing in a series of bands through high school, and on afterwards while he attended the University of Houston.

While in college Jeff was at a local club to see a Texas band called Evan Johns & the H-Bombs when he had a fateful encounter with members of the then popular band the Smithereens. The Smithereens had just finished a concert at the University of Houston and had come to see Evan Johns after their show.

Jeff struck a conversation with the lead singer Pat DiNizio and was invited to join the band at an after hours party. While hanging with the boys from the Smithereens Jeff would be introduced to a fellow Houston musician, Stephen Arthur. The two exchanged numbers and went their separate ways at the end of the night with Jeff fully expecting never to hear from Stephen again. Shortly after the encounter Stephan phoned Jeff to say that the bass player he had been working with had left his band and he asked Jeff to join him in forming a new band. After a short series of personnel changes the Distractions were formed consisting of Stephan Arthur on guitar, Jeff Crupper on bass, and Trey Folliard (a high school friend of Stephen’s) on drums.

The Distractions played together for several years in local clubs around Houston while Jeff continued to pursue a Marketing degree at the University of Houston. Eventually the Distractions would split in 1986 when Stephan Arthur left to pursue other interests. Meanwhile Jeff and band mate Trey Folliard formed a new band called Cook’s Island by adding guitarist Allan Athans to fill the spot vacated by Stephen Arthur. Cook’s Island recorded one five song demo and played the club circuit for a few more years until both Jeff and guitarist Allan Athans graduated from college in 1990 and decided to go on to a life of adulthood and pursue a career with their newly earned Marketing degrees in hand.

Jeff began to work for Famous Footwear as an assistant manager and around this same time he became reacquainted with his high school girlfriend Monica Barrientos. The two were married in the fall of 1993 with Monica beginning a career with the Gap while Jeff continued to work for Famous Footwear. Soon Jeff’s love of music would draw him back to Trey Folliard and the two would add guitarist Jeff Rackler to re-form Cook’s Island as a side project for the trio while they migrated slowly into their adult lives. During this second phase of life for Cook’s Island Jeff was introduced to Jim McCarren, a friend of Trey Folliard’s who had become a fan of the band and was a frequent attendee at Cook’s Island shows.

Meanwhile Jeff continued to pursue his managerial career at Famous Footwear where he had a good deal of success and quickly rose through the ranks. Impressed with Jeff’s rise at Famous Footwear his band's fan Jim McCarren recruited him to come to work with a small ice cream chain based in Houston called Marble Slab Creamery. (Marble Slab Creamery has since grown into a very large company with more than 500 units operating throughout the United states, thank in large part of course to Jeff's influence while working with the company.)

Jeff agreed to make a move and work for Marble Slab Creamery, Inc. and in 1993 left Famous Footwear to begin a job as a Field Supervisor for Marble Slab Creamery. In 1996 after several years of success with the company Jeff decided to leave the corporate office and purchase his own Marble Slab Creamery franchise. In the spring of 1996 Jeff and Monica picked up and moved to Largo, Florida to open the first Marble Slab Creamery franchise in that state. Jeff had never been to Florida, but it seemed to be a good place to sell ice cream, and his wife Monica had never lived outside of Texas, but reluctantly agreed to the move. In order to maintain a steady income while Jeff got his business off the ground Monica continue to work for the Gap while Jeff wondered into the world of entrepreneurship.

Eventually Jeff would own three Marble Slab Creamery locations in the Tampa Bay area adding a second store in Clearwater, Florida in 1998, and then a third in Clearwater in late 2003. During the operation of his business Jeff began a marketing relationship with the Philadelphia Phillies and their local Florida State League minor league team the Clearwater Threshers. Soon Jeff’s creative side took over once again and his creative genius was transferred to a passion for baseball being expressed in the form of a website for the Phillies local affiliate the Clearwater Threshers.

While continuing to operate his three Marble Slab Creamery locations Jeff channeled his creative energies into his Clearwater Threshers website using his escapes to the ballpark as a welcome distraction from the workday pressures of a business owner. Jeff and Monica both formed many friendships at the ballpark with fans and players alike, and followed the team through years of ups and downs finally culminating in the team winning the Florida State League Championship in September 2007.

In the Spring of 2008 Jeff decided to move on to another career and look forward to a life outside of Marble Slab Creamery. Jeff is currently working for a marketing company in the Tampa Bay area. (Not that I didn't like the ice cream business, but this is more of what I thought I would be doing when I was in college pursuing a Marketing degree.) I learned a ton by owning my own business, and I wouldn't trade it for the world, but it was a lot of work especially with three stores in a business where you are open 7 days a week, and have a lot of teenagers working for you. I could really tell you some stories, but that would take up way too much space here.

Anyway...thanks for dropping by, and have a terrific day.

Jeff Crupper