Jay Earles

Jay was born August 30, 1930 in Seminole, OK to Artie Ray and Iva Lee (Whiddon) Earles. He served for 22 years in the US Marine Corps, during which he earned his college degree from University of Maryland and deployed overseas to serve in both the Korea and Vietnam wars. On November 26, 1950, he married Nellie May List, and they raised one daughter, Kathy, and three sons, David, Paul, and Tracy.

Jay’s life was one of service: to his country, his family, and his church.

His early life was characterized by adventure and hard work. He ran away from home at age 12 because of a mean housekeeper, but the bus ticket agent wouldn’t sell him a ticket to Arkansas and called his mom instead. He had an endless number of odd jobs through his childhood, starting at age 8 (railroad worker, peach picker, auto parts runner, paperboy, soda jerk, and more; truly a never-ending list), before joining the Marines at age 17. He met Nellie when she served lunch to Jay and Artie Ray at a Delta diner while Jay was on leave before his first Marine assignment. They dated several times over the next week of his leave, seeing the same movie repeatedly in the one-screen town, before Jay asked Nellie to marry him. They never told their children this story for fear the children might think dating ten days was a proper way to court and marry. Jay and Nellie were married for 55 wonderful years.

Although Jay had a second professional career after retiring from the Marine Corps as a Lt. Colonel, he always identified as a Marine. So much so, in fact, that while working in Saudi Arabia 15 years after his Marine retirement, he entertained Marine troops in his home that were deployed there to fight in Operation Desert Storm. Every weekend, he cooked them steaks and burgers and allowed them to make expensive satellite phone calls to their families back in the States. Always a Marine.

As dedicated as he remained to the Corps, Jay was even more committed to serving the Lord through various roles in the church: deacon, usher, bookkeeper, lawnmower, and overall humble servant. He frequently paid for local people experiencing homelessness to stay overnight in a hotel and provided them dinner. He served as a friend and prayer partner to those experiencing health problems, loneliness, and loss. It is through this selflessness that Jay ministered the love of Christ to others.

Jay is now reunited with wife Nellie, son David, and brother Don. He is survived by two siblings, Betty and Jim; three children, Kathy, Paul (Bobbi), and Tracy (Gina); eight grandchildren, and fourteen great-grandchildren. A funeral service was held on March 6, 2023 at Ahlberg Funeral Chapel in Longmont Colorado and Jay was laid to eternal rest at Fort Logan National Cemetery in Denver, Colorado. Jay was a long-time supporter of Blue Sky Bridge, so in lieu of flowers, please consider donating to that organization at blueskybridge.org.