Heefner II, Jay Wilson went home to the Lord in April 2012 after a year long battle with colon cancer. Jay fought harder than anyone, even running 25 miles per week during chemo. He continually amazed his family, friends and doctors with his deep faith and indomitable spirit.
Jay was born in November 1960 in St. Louis, MO to Dr. Wilson and Pat Heefner. Jay graduated from Lincoln High School in Stockton, CA in 1987, excelling academically and competing on the football and track teams. Jay graduated summa cum laude from University of the Pacific in Electrical Engineering in 1983 as the outstanding electrical engineering graduate and a member of Phi Kappa Phi. In 1987, Jay received UOP's first Masters in Electrical Engineering. At UOP, Jay developed his lifelong love of lacrosse. Indirectly, this passion led him to Alice Caerbert, the love of his life. They were married in June 1987.
Jay's forte with physics research led to a career that took them on a cross-country journey that always included church, work and sports! His early career included research positions at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Sacramento, the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility project in Newport News, VA, and the Super Conducting Super Collider in Red Oak, TX. For the last 18 years, Jay has worked on the Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory at Caltech. Along the way, they joyfully welcomed children Heather Jan (1989), Leah Jay (1992) and Maxwell Richard (1997).
Jay lived a life filled with everything he loved -his awesome God, his loving family, a challenging career, and an endless list of sports. He coached almost every team his kids' played on. He was also a regular competitor in the Mt. Wilson Trail Run. Jay had a gentle, patient and humble spirit and he used his gift for teaching to touch the lives of hundreds of young athletes in the community.
A celebration of Jay's life will be held at Sierra Madre Congregational Church on Friday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Alice Heefner for the Heefner Educational Fund (Account # 07651-68102) at any Bank of America branch.