Shihadeh “Jay” Jajeh came to the US from Palestine in the late 1940s. He put himself through college selling linens out of the trunk of his car. He graduated from Stetson University and relocated to San Francisco. Originally his goal was to make enough to go to medical school.
Jay started working in business and real estate. With the tumult in his homeland, his parents, siblings and friends needed a place to relocate, as well. Jay helped them get started as they arrived in San Francisco. He made heavy investments into these people and their families. From putting people through pharmacy school to helping them open an engraving shop or a grocery store, he invested where it counted. When Jay passed in 2001, his children found checks that were written to repay him for some of these investments. Jay had intentionally not cashed them.
Shihadeh was my grandfather; we called him Sedo. These values of hard work, generosity and investing in others are the foundation of our company, Jajeh (JAH-jay) Group. We are a testament to his legacy; we want his story to be continued and his name remembered. We also want to make a difference where we are through hard work, generosity and investing in people, as Sedo did.