John G. "Jay" Lord Jr.

I'll always remember the way Jay showed faith in me the minute I showed up at NEFC. That and his friendship toward me was one of many things at NEFC that allowed me to do my best work and be my best self. He once asked me what the meaning of zero was -- I see from the obit that he had a habit of asking this question -- and I had no answer. I didn't even understand the question. Now I might answer that one thing zero means is the winding down of an extraordinary life to its last breath. Another is infinite possibility. To Jay, who lived an extraordinary life and believed, every minute of it, in infinite possibility, I'll be forever grateful.

While working together at Responsive Classroom, I got to travel with Jay to DC for work and meet his lovely daughter and grandkids. I learned that he loved arriving at airports early so we got some really good conversations and walking in! He was one of the first work people I told I was pregnant with my first baby and he told me I was the luckiest person on earth. Blessings to Jay and his family. Truly a good human and I feel incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to know him.

Jay Lord has been a remarkable influence on me and our family. It seems that every aspect of our lives and those of our beloved community(s) have had influence from Jay. It was not always about the content of a situation, it was about the way he made us feel and how he modeled a special way to live our lives with courage, joy, and commitment. That is Jay Lord's Legacy that will live on in each of us.

So sorry to hear that Jay has passed. He was a big influence in my life! Blessings on Ruth and the whole family.