Jeffrey Langfelder, a co-founder of the popular Heritage Sandy Springs Farmers Market, died April 8 at age 72.
In 2010, Langfelder and now City Councilmember Andy Bauman created the farmers market at what is now the City Springs project site. The market quickly became one of the city’s most popular annual events. The duo handed off operations to the nonprofit Heritage Sandy Springs in 2014.
At Langfelder’s funeral at Temple Sinai, held three days before the farmers market opened its 2017 season, Bauman recalled raising the idea of the market with him.
“His reaction was classic Jeff: ‘I’m in’ and ‘Let’s do it’ – and off he went,” Bauman wrote in his eulogy. “I was like, ‘Whoa, let’s think about this.’ But for Jeff, the idea was all we needed. Few plans, little details – Jeff just knew we could get it done.”
“And let me be clear, without Jeff there never would have been any market,” Bauman also recalled. “Now, eight years later, it has become somewhat of a Saturday morning institution in Sandy Springs, and our community should be very grateful for all the time and energy Jeff put in to making it so successful. It will open this Saturday morning, and it will be bittersweet without having Jeff there.”
Langfelder began a career in real estate in his early twenties. He later became vice president of real estate for Home Depot during the company’s early years and oversaw its initial stage of growth. He co-founded The Shopping Center Group, a regional brokerage for retailers, in 1984.
According to an obituary, his passions included Atlanta Braves baseball, where he held season tickets for over 30 years; the Temple Sinai Brotherhood, where he was past president; and Standardbred horse-racing.
He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth, of 26 years, and son Evan and daughter Rebecca, along with 5 nephews, 4 nieces and parents-in-law.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to Weinstein Hospice or the Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation.