Jeremy James Paapke

At 1:39 p.m. on Thursday, September 25, 2014, Jeremy James Paapke was tragically taken from us in a logging accident. He was 24 years old.

He was born on July 28, 1990, in Anchorage, Alaska, to Jim and Jackie Paapke. He had a 3-year-old sister, Ashley, who absolutely adored her new little brother.

The family lived in Anchorage until Jeremy was 5 years old. They moved to Port Angeles in 1997.

Throughout the rest of Jeremy's school years, he was fairly active. He played roller hockey in elementary school.

In middle school, he was part of the band and played all the percussion instruments, and played football for the Future Riders.

Once Jeremy was in high school, he was racing motocross and started racing all over Washington.

Jeremy always did very well in school and had a grade-point average between 3.8 and 4.0. School came naturally to him.

Jeremy was well-liked and had many friends.

In 2007, Jeremy moved back to Alaska with his dad and graduated from Service High School in 2008.

Jeremy had a great work ethic and was always a hard worker. His first job was at Red Carpet Car Wash in Sequim. He also worked at Toga's Soup House.

After returning to Alaska, Jeremy worked for a close family friend at Painter Services.

When he moved back to Port Angeles, he worked at Green Creek mill. It was there that Jeremy decided that he wanted to try logging. A friend gave him a chance, and he started logging for Oakes Logging.

Jeremy was then part of the Rygaard crew and appeared on season six of "Ax Men." He also worked for a short time at Bekkevar Logging, where he made the decision to be a cutter. He was very excited to be a cutter, even though he knew it was dangerous.

Besides working, in his free time, he enjoyed riding dirt bikes, wake surfing, snowboarding, attending concerts and spending time with his family and friends.

Jeremy had no problem being the life of the party and the center of attention. He had a loud voice that carried across the room.

He had the best sense of humor, and the jokes he told would make you laugh so hard your cheeks hurt.

His smile could light up the darkest room and was contagious and will be forever missed.

Jeremy is survived by his parents, Jim Paapke and Jackie Paradis; stepparents Jimmy Paradis and Kelly O'Leary-Paapke; older sister Ashley Paapke; stepbrother Joeseph Foreman; grandparents Jack and Judy Mann and Jody Grange; godparent Ron Paapke; nieces Natalyn and Jadyn; and many aunts, uncles and cousins.

Jeremy was preceded in death by his grandma, Diane Grange, and grandpa, James Paapke Sr.

A celebration of his life will be held Saturday, October 4, from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Eagles Aerie, 2843 East Myrtle Street, Port Angeles.

We love you, Jeremy. You are always on our minds, forever in our hearts.