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James Lobley Obituary
James K. Lobley of New Hope, Pa. passed away peacefully on Tuesday, November 17, 2020, after recent health complications. He was 48.
Known to everyone as Jay, he was born in Doylestown and lived in New Hope his entire life. He was preceded in death by his parents, James F. and Sandra P. Lobley as well as his maternal grandparents James H. and Gunhild R. Phillips and his paternal grandparents James L. and Mary D. Lobley.
Jay was a graduate of New Hope-Solebury High School and Bucks County Community College. He worked for Delray Thriftway before moving to True Value Hardware, where he worked for many, many years. He loved working at the store and taking care of customers.
Jay fought health problems all his life and was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes before the age of 3. As an adult, he used his experience to become involved with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and began a letter writing campaign to celebrities to raise awareness of diabetes. He sent tens of thousands of personal letters over the years and amassed countless scrapbooks of pictures and responses sent to him in return. In later years, he also began sending letters to raise awareness of epilepsy.
Jay was a huge Star Wars fan and enjoyed watching movies and having game nights with friends. He loved spending time with his family and taking care of his cat, Snow.
Jay is survived by his sister, Jennifer McAlpin, her husband John and their daughter Mary Kathleen of Newtown; his aunt Diane Datesman and her husband Richard of Dublin; his uncle Gary Lobley and aunt Linda Lobley of Smithers, BC; and cousins Erin Datesman and Andrew Datesman of Dublin; Carrie (Datesman) Haase and her husband Ron of Burlington, N.J.; Chris Lobley and his wife Karen of Prince George, BC; and Phillip Lobley and his wife Chera of Smithers, BC.
Due to restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, a small, private funeral will be held with a memorial service to be announced at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Jay's memory to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 555 Croton Road, Suite 111, King of Prussia, PA 19406.
Arrangements are under the direction of the Van Horn-McDonough Funeral Home, 21 York Street, Lambertville, NJ 08530 (vhmfh.com).
To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.
Memories and Condolences
for James Lobley
Sponsored by Van Horn-McDonough Funeral Home.
3 Entries
Nadine Karaskevicus
December 19, 2020
To Jay's faLily,
MY condolences. A dear soul. He kept all of us (class of `91) updated on each other. A caring individual and tremendous work on his awareness of diabetes.
- Nadine
Stephen Cunningham
December 8, 2020
I wish to send my condolences to Jennifer and the rest of the Lobley family.
I knew Jay, since forever. From the lunch table at NHS, to the break room at Thriftway (or bagging groceries), to the after-movie snacks at Applebees, talking with Jay was always an adventure. He always had little quips regardless of the topic at hand. I think this is what I will miss most. Well that and talking about Star Wars, Star Trek, or Lord of the Rings.
Jay once showed me his book(s) of celebrities that he sent letters to, and their responses. He even became friends with one or two. I was expecting him to be a guest of honor at one of those award shows.
Jay, may you rest in peace.
Stephen
Steve O'Neill
November 22, 2020
Dear Jen and Family,
I miss Jay. Actually, I have been missing him for a while. We always talked when I was in the Store. And that was at least a couple of times a month. I pass your house almost every day and see the letters your mom painted on the mailbox. And the sign she made for our driveway, 6880, so many years ago that is in Perfect and I do mean Perfect condition. Like I hung it yesterday.
I had no idea what a dedicated activist Jay was in the cause of finding a cure for diabetes. But then Jay was always so quiet and unassuming. Jay being Jay.
My deepest sympathies,
Steve O'Neill
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