Jay Gelzer

In loving gratitude for your endless time and good care.

Jay, your sisters in Mensa of Western Washington miss your wiseness and beauty. Bon Voyage.

"It's not what you take when you leave this world...It is what you leave behind you when you go." (Randy Travis)

Dear Family and Friends of Jay,
Please know I am holding you close in thought and prayer as you find your way through the loss of this lovely, gentle woman. The written words and her photo in the obituary perfectly described Jay; indeed, a genuine tribute to her.

I only crossed paths with Jay twice in the last few years. Both times I felt an immediate connection. The second time was only 3 or 4 months ago, at the Haiku Conference at Asilomar. We had time to talk one-on-one for an hour or so and decided to try to reconnect on my next visit to Seattle.
I was so impressed by her spirit, insights and warmth. I am struck by how much her loss has saddened me.

Well, it has taken me some time to write here. So many preceding me have said it very well. I knew Jay since 1969 and my last visit with her in June of 2012 was extra ordinary! She was a Renaissance woman cut from the cloth of Joan of Arc! Brilliantly intelligent, compassionate, musically creative, elegant, steadfast in her commitments(her son and patients and friends), private, a spiritual warrior, inspirational, and simply a wonderful soul! I cannot say enough. I was /am so proud of...

Jay, our dearest neighbor, you're forever alive in our hearts, we'll always look at flowers and trees with your eye. Let's please stay neighbors up there too. The yellow boat...currently drifted to Prague.

Jay, I am blessed to have known you and blessed to have had the opportunity to say goodbye. You and Connor have been a part of my family for the past 14 years. I miss you each dearly, and I am better for having known you and grown up around you. Thank you for leading by example, with your grace, poise, honesty, wit and kindness. And thank you again for allowing me to open my heart and say goodbye.