Jay Sharp
My friend Jay Sharp died suddenly two months ago. If you didn’t know him, you can get a sense of how special he was by browsing his website. His passing made me very sad. It’s a long story (ask me about it offline), but the circumstances made it especially hard for me. It’s taken me a long time to start feeling mostly-normal again. The postings I make here are not usually this personal, but I have some pictures to share with other people who knew Jay.
Thanks to the support of Jay’s family and our employer, Karen and I had the opportunity to fly out to Rapid City, South Dakota to attend his burial. I posted the all pictures from our trip, including the chapel near his burial site where they had the memorial service, his grave with some flowers donated by his friends from Michigan, and the “Lazy J” campground across the street from the cemetery. There are also pictures of Karen and I seeing the local sites. I also posted her pictures.
Jay didn’t have any family in the Boston area, so three of them flew out to Boston to take care of his affairs. Here are some pictures of a night we all went out to the Barking Crab and JP Licks. They’re wonderful people and I’m glad I got the chance to meet them.
Most of Jay’s friends here in Boston couldn’t attend the memorial services in South Dakota or Nebraska, where he grew up and where his parents live respectively, so we organized an event here in Boston. I snapped a few pictures before and after the service.
Jay, I’ll always remember you.
September 30th, 2003 at 4:13 pm
nice weblog…;] i saw all the photos and I think you are nice poeple…;)
/hannah from poland
September 30th, 2003 at 4:22 pm
(’) (’) (’) for loving memory…
October 6th, 2003 at 12:43 pm
Dear Matthew,
I worked with Jay on and off for the last 8 years and had just spoken with him at a conference in Detroit in early June. I was shocked to learn of his death a month later.
I would like to connect with you offline, if possible. Thank you.
November 24th, 2003 at 2:48 am
I was a friend of J# in college.
I was shocked and deeply saddened by his death.
Please contact me via e-mail.
– Thank you
December 7th, 2003 at 9:33 pm
07/12/2003
I just found out today that Jay had passed away. I have known Jay for several years. We met in Detroit and then again in Toronto a few weeks later. I invited him home to have dinner with my family at Easter. He never got another word in after they arrived. I cannot believe that he has left this world. I have been trying to reach him for several months, starting back in July as were were scheduled to meet up in Montreal for thier Pride festivities. Today I finally contacted his friend Greg in MN and found out the bad news ;(
Jay, you will be missed deeply and profoundly.
Love always, John
John Roberts, Guelph, Ontario, Canada
December 7th, 2003 at 9:37 pm
Thank you for posting this information.
If you have any other news for me regarding his death I would appreciate it. I couldn’t find a way of contacting you on this site.
Thanks
December 31st, 2003 at 5:16 pm
I knew Jay @ USD and was quite saddening to hear of his passing. Thank you for the weblog.
February 13th, 2004 at 12:33 am
Thanks Matt
February 23rd, 2004 at 11:13 am
I too was a friend of Jay’s during his Master’s program at BU 1992-93. This is the first I’ve heard of his passing. I would like to hear from other folks who knew him.
Thank you.
May 25th, 2004 at 9:36 am
I was shocked to read about Jay’s death in the USD Alumni newspaper a few months back. I had lived in the same dorm that Jay had lived in and was a friend of his sister while she attended USD. Jay and I weren’t best friends or anything like that while we were at the U, but his death made me do some deep reevaluating of my life. I remember him walking around our floor going in and out of the building with his cello case. I always thought he seemed to be such an intriguing guy, but I never got to know as well as I should have. I would like to ask you some questions if you would be willing to respond to the e-mail address I provided.
June 15th, 2004 at 1:43 pm
Hi Matthew. I had the privilege of working for Jay when he was here in Ann Arbor. I was shocked when I heard of his death. It has been a year since he passed away and I still check his web site, pretty regularly. I am hoping to get privately in touch with you and I would be grateful if you could write me to the email address that I left.
Andrea
August 21st, 2004 at 12:31 am
I knew Jay when I lived in Michigan. He hung out with my ex, Paul when they both lived in Boston. We spent time together in San Francisco when he visited.
I’m one of the contributors to his I Love series.
Please contact me. I would like to know more information about his death.
November 18th, 2004 at 11:33 am
Hey Matt, I’m glad you posted pics of the burial site and the chapel and the campground across the street. Jay’s death affected me deeply, and in thinking about it, still brings me great sadness. Has there ever been any conclusive findings about the circumstances of his death? I’ve tried to find the Boston Coroner’s office report of his death, but no luck…. hope you are doing well these days. Geoff and I moved to Ottawa in January, which has been a good move for us. Eric Kristensen
July 25th, 2005 at 10:41 pm
Was Jay murdered by somebody?
April 3rd, 2006 at 11:25 pm
I spent a weekend with Jay in P-Town and have often wondered what happened to him - if you are not tired of talking about I would like to know. I first meet him in Paris when he was working for Ford.
May 6th, 2007 at 11:10 am
http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/articles/2007/05/05/news/local/news01.txt
October 10th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Talk about getting the news late… four years ago… I was friends with Jay back in school, but hadn’t seen him since the late 80’s. I remember him as being good company - one who was naturally upbeat and also at ease with himself. R.I.P.
January 16th, 2008 at 2:49 am
Hi Matt, I knew Jay from Ford and MDI (Ann Arbor). Can you tell me how he died? Thanks.
York
March 21st, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Hello … I knew Jay when he lived in Ann Arbor. We completely lost touch when he moved to Boston, but were still great friends up till then. I still drive past his street and smile at the house he bought here, after moving out of the rental that was slated to be torn down for development. At one time I was to have taken over the third floor and do “whatever I wanted” to make it livable.
I talked to him on the phone at MW in Boston, when he first started working there. He told me it was time for cookies: someone in the office had a Mom who baked cookies and brought them in on Fridays, so the conversation was short. That was the last time I spoke with him.
Its Good Friday, 2008. Not sure what led me to look him up on google today, but finding this article puts to rest some questions as to not hearing from him for such a long time. I’m also stunned. If you still see these, would you please contact me and let me know what happened.
Many thanks
Mike mwm822@hotmail.com