My cousin Jay was a very caring person.
He was 7 and a 1/2 years older than me. So we weren't very close in the early years, but after I went to visit him bringing my wife and boys, we communicated more often and found that I really admired his down-to-earth attitude and personality, always looking for new ideas and innovations.

When he found out I had cancer, he began contacting me more often. Since we were both suffering with our own cancers. He was very encouraging to me by sending me humorous youtube videos and recommending alternative treatments, and how to keep positive during our time dealing with cancer.

Last year or so we were both struggling. Mine was more pain related and his difficulties eating and keeping it down and losing weight and his abscess that was getting worse. The doctors weren't helping him as much as he had hoped they would.
 He was still very hopeful throughout it all. I pray and hope that I'll get to see him in the future in his glorified body in Heaven someday.

See you soon cousin, Tom Fickes ❤️

this is Jon Fickes Jay’s cousin.
somehow our two fathers moved from Pennsylvania and chose Monrovia California to live. so when we were kids, Jay Julie and I lived close to each other and were the  same age and  enjoyed getting together. Jay was always the one looking for adventure. it could be hiking in the mountains and canyons behind both of our houses or spending the whole day exploring the insides of the storm drains leading down to the beach, he had a lot of energy. When they  moved to San Luis Obispo, it blew my mind that uncle Jim bought a ranch and a mountain! I think Jay had found his real home there in See Canyon and I enjoyed seeing him and the whole family there through the years.

I was with Jay when he was born and it was fitting that I be with him as he gently passed away.  He was a constant in my life, good-natured, inquisitive, and fun to be around.  We spent our formative years together, first as playmates and later as exploring and hiking partners, developing our love for the natural world.  After high school we lived separate lives but we always stayed close friends and confidants.  We had an understanding that we would stay in touch even when it was difficult. 

Jay had a deep knowledge of the physical world.  He would look at any broken thing and just know intuitively how to fix it.  And he amassed quite an inventory of materials that gave him just the right pipe or faucet to repair it.  I had many chuckles at the photos he would send me of his creative solutions to problems.  This skill served him well through the years as a carpenter and rental manager, saving owners lots of money in the process.

Jay’s great love was his property in See Canyon and all the wildlife that lived there.  I stayed with Jay a lot in his last year and was amazed at the animals that also called his property home.  Jay made the ranch into a haven for wildlife.  Coyotes, mountain lions, deer, bobcats, foxes, raccoons. skunks, turkeys, hawks, and an abundance of songbirds and frogs all lived there in harmony.  Trying to sleep-in in the morning was a real challenge with the racket they made.  He constantly sent me photos from his game camera or stories of his interactions with the animals.  My email was full of You Tube videos of animals doing cute things.  As you can tell he loved animals!

But Jay’s greatest love was his daughter Denae!  He was so proud of her accomplishments and was forever talking about what she was doing.  He loved that she was taking care of animals at a vet’s office.  He definitely passed that passion for animals on to her.  He was very proud to be able to pass his property and all of the animals that live there to her as well.

I’m glad most of my family was able to attend and mostly my dad but he did promise he would show and wow was I grateful that he did. This was probably the only ever Bachelors  I will ever earn and I was able to get this great photo of me in my gown and him there able to celebrate my achievement.

AVIS DE DÉCÈS

Jay Eric Fickes

19 mai 1953 – 21 mars 2025

Los Osos Valley Mortuary & Memorial Park

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