Jess Sudol, Passero Associates president, was a ‘thoughtful, servant leader’

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He began his engineering career as an intern at Passero Associates and worked his way up to president of the firm.

That in itself may best explain Jess Sudol‘s professional expertise as an engineer. But colleagues say he was also a devoted family man with a sense of humor and uncanny knack of finding solutions.

Mr. Sudol died on Saturday after a battle with brain cancer, the firm announced today. He was 44.

“He was a great man and a thoughtful leader,” said Peter Wehner, vice president and architecture department manager and Sudol’s co-worker at Passero for more than 20 years. “He touched a lot of lives with his mentorship and his humor.”

A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Mr. Sudol became president of Passero Associates in 2020. Only 38 at the time, he was responsible for day-to-day operations at the firm, where company culture is rooted in servant leadership.

“He’s the shining example of hard work and dedication,” Passero CEO Andrew Holesko said. “And we all may have a view of what sitting in the president’s chair may look like, but he never lost track of the importance of the people at Passero and all the clients. Taking care of people was as big a focus as running the business.”

For Mr. Sudol, that was simply how it should be. He embraced Passero’s core values, especially servant leadership, and always found time for family.

“He juggled his dedication to family and his dedication to his faith with helping others and his duties at work,” Holesko said. “He used every minute of the day for his family, his work and the charitable causes he supported.”

As an engineer, Mr. Sudol was a doer, a fixer, Wehner said. He also found a way to bring an architect’s vision to engineering.

“As an engineer, you might think of him as more technical, but he really brought creativity to projects,” Wehner said.

Sudol was named president just as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but he and Holesko kept the company running smoothly.

“His leadership during COVID was stellar,” Holesko said. “We sent over 100 people home yet will still worked together as a firm.”

They worked well, too. Passero added staff members and grew revenue during 2020 and 2021, and Mr. Sudol’s leadership was a big reason, Holesko said.

Mr. Sudol is survived by his wife of 20 years, Kelly; daughters Aubrey and Brynn; parents Mary and Stephen; sister Lyndsy (Corvin) Buck; mother-in-law Nancy Fowlkes; sisters-in-law Krista (Josh) Tompkins and Megan (Nick Henry.

Calling hours will be from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 9, at Calvary Assembly (3429 Chili Ave.). A celebration of life is set for 10 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 10.

According to the obituary posted by Leo M. Bean & Sons Funeral Home, the family asks that donations be made to Fellowship of Christian Athletes, an organization for which Mr. Sudol served as a board member.

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