From Steve
Intro
Hello everyone
A very warm welcome to all of you from me, Steve, Jake’s Dad and my family to you and your family
It is a great comfort to me personally to have you here and also those of you at home, in different states across Australia, overseas and several of you with covid and flu
And a special welcome to all Jake’s friends, many boys and girls that we’ve known since teenage years with your own lives and families and careers - it’s really good to see you again here
I’d like to tell you firstly what happened to Jake in recent weeks and then talk about his life
As a good friend of mine said last week, this is not the natural order of things so I’m sure you’ll understand us struggling with our emotions today
Jake in Orange
Jake had lived in central NSW for almost 3 years and had a job that he loved
Suffered a minor stroke 2 weeks ago which affected his right arm hand and leg
Sister and winemaker Zoe was working at the Orange winery and staying with him, took him to hospital that night and probably saved his life
As many of you know, Jake has been Type 1 diabetic for 20 years but he also had long Covid which plays hell with blood sugar levels and he had high blood pressure and cholesterol - a potent cocktail with the chaos of Covid layered on top
But he was alive and could speak and eat
Once he was stable he moved from ICU to rehab
Progressing well but 3 days later, he had a massive stroke from which there was no recovery
Jake died on 24 June but medical technology and a ventilator supported his major functions for 2 days
His decision was to give life to others and we have heard since that his organ donations have so far been successful
That decision which we fully support, was handled with great dignity and respect, encourage you all to go to donatelife.gov.au and register yourselves
Strokes are not just for older people, there were others, non-diabetic, in their 20s in that hospital too
The Essence of Jake
If Jake had asked me, how would you remember me Dad, this is what I’d say:
Love of Family/Uncle Jake
Thanks to Bianca, Matt and Niklas for supporting us and your care of families during our time in Orange and here
Also thanks to Denise and Malcolm for over 20 years of step parenthood, Jenny and I both remarried some years ago and both our partners have been a major and positive presence in Jake’s life for a long time. Not always an easy ride but one we all recognise and respect
Jake had plans to restore his health from long Covid, to resign the job that he loved, to rent his house and to move to Brisbane and Northern NSW to be closer to family
He loved living on the Myocum property with dogs and chooks and beautiful meadows and had created a spectacular vegetable garden there
At our place in the city he was a very enthusiastic Xmas chef, skilled in the art of ham glazing and grilling bugs on the half shell. He called it Merry Pissmas. Pissmas won’t be the same again
But importantly, Jake loved his role of favourite Uncle and loved Charlotte and Finn, Anna and Niklas’ children in Brisbane dearly, we spent a very happy Australia Day together with Uncle Jake there this year
And he doted on Oliver and Margot, Ben and Bianca’s kids in LA
As if they were his own
Commitment
When Jake set a course of action to achieve something, he had real focus
Sometimes hard to get him started but once under way, unstoppable
He got fit, he ran, joined a gym, did weights and was in good physical shape
He gave up carbs and took up the gospel of cauliflower, for which we all now have grudging respect
Returning to uni in his late 20s really took some doing, having decided a degree was important for his journey - and he would often achieve the unthinkable and get assignments in weeks ahead of time
And even in rehab in Orange Hospital - his achievements there, despite loss of movement on his RHS - in two days he could do 30 squats, bridges and straight leg raises on his weak side, he was so focussed on recovery
It did help in rehab that there were several attractive blonde nurses in their mid 20s to assist him in his physio and OT but I have no doubt he would have achieved his declared goal, which the therapists insisted on him setting for himself - he was committed to get on a plane unaided to go visit his nephew and niece Oliver and Margot in LA
His Love of Nature
Jake did attend Uni at 18 but felt it was too much like school and didn’t care for it
It was significant that he chose Landscape Architecture, even then he had an affinity for the natural world and for plants and animals and the land
Years later when he chose to restart his studies he chose Environmental Science, a great springboard for his future
He landed a plum work experience role with National Parks at Mon Repos the Turtle Sanctuary near Bundaberg where he supported the largest concentration of nesting marine turtles on the east coast - working from late evening through the night and exciting many turtle tourists on the way, tracking nests and hatchlings - the cute little critters in many of the pictures
He became a Park Ranger at Lamington National Park, enjoying the ancient Gondwana rainforests around Binna Burra and the Green Mountains
He joined the Aust Wildlife Conservancy and worked at remote Mt Gibson in WA protecting the native wildlife from feral animals
Jake would wander for hours in the national parks of northern NSW
And then came his work in Orange as a hydrographer - half the week out in boats on dams, wading through creeks, inspecting sensors, measuring water flow and the quality of the drinking water supporting the population of Sydney
A Man of Mischief
Innocent smile, an impish grin that sometimes masked an underlying theme or perhaps a little guilt
He professed to be a great dog trainer and doted on Zahli, his 2 year old Rhodesian Ridgeback but when I went to stay with him recently he sacrificed his bed but then I discovered a 30 kilo dog under my doona that refused to move
He had his naughty moments too at school and I will never forget his surprise when Denise and I had arranged to pick him up from the Indro movies but we arrived early to see this shadowy figure moving in from the local park with hoodie and a backpack that fitted a goon bag of wine perfectly - tell us about the film Jake?
And yes, 3 strikes and you’re out at BBC but lighting up a cigarette in boater and full dress uniform in Toowong High Street wasn’t the smartest move as Jake discovered when a shopkeeper rang ahead and the school sergeant was waiting to arrest Jake at the gates
But his move to Terrace was good for him in years 11 and 12 and Jake became something of a go-between in the private school system after hours, neutralised many a party conflict because he had friends in different places. And thank you Anna for looking after Jake during his wilder years
We would often rent a holiday house in the summer and one time Jake discovered in Byron Bay a cosmic shop that sold firesticks, Maori poi and other pyromaniac paraphernalia . But rather than wait to practice his twirling skills with unlit pole, it didn’t take long for Jake to dip into the paraffin, set fire to the grass in the back yard and we narrowly avoided a disastrous suburban bush fire
Smart
Jake graduated with a good OP
He returned to Uni as a mature student and excelled
And since he was born in the US in northern VA, he and brother Ben discovered at 18 no need for visa or work permit, just fly to the US consulate in Sydney, fill out a form, wave a birth certificate and pick up a US passport
Top of the list was winter in the Colorado Rockies, in Steamboat Springs, smart thing though for Jake was to encourage his Brisbane engineering company to forward their 3D CAD drawings to him (which he updated each day for wiring and plumbing changes) at close of day so he could return them first thing, get paid for a full day and spend most of the day snowboarding
And then came his work in Orange with WaterNSW - half the week out in boats on dams, wading through creeks and rivers, taking recordings followed by some serious science and analytical brain work in the office
Outro
This is a surreal time for me, for us
The permanent presence of someone close makes way for a complete absence
Logic and order make way for waves of emotion - our culture struggles with death and separation, as we do today
Perhaps, like me, you sometimes question why we find ourselves on this planet at all
Is it just a grand experiment?
I don’t know why children die before their parents
And I don’t know why Jake didn’t live for another 40 or 50 years
But what I do know is that family is everything
So I want you to stay close to your partners, your parents, your siblings, your children and your friends
Tell them you love them and have them in your hearts and minds every day as we will with our friend, brother and son Jake.