Joseph "Jay" Yarwood

1941 - 2025

Joseph "Jay" Yarwood
Frankfort, Mi
03/18/1941 - 09/25/2025
Joseph Allan (Jay) Yarwood, age 84, passed away on September 25th, 2025, in Frankfort, MI. He was born on March 18, 1941, in Whitehall, MI to the late Fred and Hattie Yarwood.
Raised in eastern Washington and Michigan, Jay was a skilled fisherman and nature enthusiast. He had particularly fond memories of his childhood spent in Mohler, WA, where he rode bucking calves like they were bulls, fished the creeks and lakes, and enjoyed observing hawks and eagles along with an assortment of other avian creatures in the clear blue wide-open skies of the west. His affinity for birdwatching was originally encouraged by his mother and remained a lifelong passion.
Jay was an outstanding athlete at Whitehall High School and attended the University of Idaho on a football scholarship. While he loved his time in Idaho, he would find himself back in Michigan to attend Central Michigan University to pursue a career in education. His skill as a teacher was evident even as a teenager, when he tutored his fellow students in math. It was around this time that Jay met his future wife, Pam, at a basketball game. They were wed, and truly only until death did they part, 60 years later. After they married, the young couple moved to Frankfort, where they would enjoy the beauty of northwest Michigan. They started a family, and Jay would begin a 33 year teaching career at Frankfort High School, where he quickly became a beloved teacher in biology and earth sciences. The amount of times family members would be told "I had your dad as a teacher and he was my favorite" are too numerous to count, but all appreciated. Students were drawn to his engaging, funny and approachable teaching style. He enjoyed his students and cared for them all, and it showed. Whether you were at the top of the class or struggling to keep up, Jay had time for you. He was also not afraid of being honest and telling people what they needed to hear. This combination of skills propelled him to decades of influential teaching and coaching. He spent many years coaching junior high basketball, with success both in the win column and as a mentor to his players. He also coached junior high football and helped out with high school track. His schoolroom antics were famous (some of them maybe infamous) and endlessly entertaining. His students could bring him any critter they found, dead or alive. If it was injured, he would keep it safe and return it to the wild if it healed. If it didn't make it, he might add it to his freezer collection. He was a biology teacher through and through. The characteristics that made Jay a great teacher also made him a great husband and father. His love for Pam and his three children was always evident. He provided a fun and interesting environment to grow up in and be a part of. He was recognized in 2003 as Washington State University Dad of the Year. A quote hung on the wall of the house that read "Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value", and he embodied that for his family just as he did for his students. Following his retirement in 1999, Jay and Pam would travel the country before enjoying their retirement years split between homes in eastern Washington and southern Arizona. It was a fun endeavor to visit them either along the shore of Lake Roosevelt or at the foot of the Dragoon Mountains. There was often a gathering of generations – a combination of daughters, sons and grandchildren visiting, and he made sure there was always a fun adventure awaiting. Jay is now onto the ultimate adventure, and wherever that takes a person, rest assured he is taking the backroads to get there, taking the time to look around and soak in the sights, just as he did in life. As his musical hero, Willie Nelson, would say, Jay is "on the road again". Jay was very good at being present and enjoying the moment, and that, perhaps, was the main ingredient to a life well- lived.
Jay is survived by his wife Pam, his daughters Jamie (Andre) Borrello and Jordi (Ken) Kimes, son Eli, brother James, seven grandchildren and four great- grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his parents Fred and Hattie and his sister Joanne Schultz.
Memorial contributions may be made to the Benzie Audubon Club or the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy. Jay planted innumerable trees in his lifetime and would have appreciated any planted in his honor. Thank you to the staff at The Maples for their skilled and loving care.
A celebration of life will be held in the Frankfort area in the spring, with a time and place to be announced. Arrangements by Jowett Family Funeral Home of Benzonia, Mi.