Jay was born August 21, 1944 in Onderdendam, Netherlands to William & Jean Van Dyk. Jay immigrated to the United States with his parents, 6 sisters and 2 brothers in 1955 and another brother was born after they moved to the U.S. The family first settled in Missouri and later moved to Idaho.
Jay left home, while they were living in Idaho, to join the U.S. Army in 1962, where he trained to be part of the 101st Airborne as a paratrooper during the Vietnam war era, although he did not deploy to Vietnam. He did briefly deploy to Iran for a show of force. When his enlistment was up he moved to Tennessee where he married his first wife and they had a daughter. Jay moved to California and divorced. He then met and married his second wife and they too divorced.
While still in California, Jay met and married his current wife, Charlotte, and became a step-dad to Mike and Robyn in 1978. In 1979, they moved to Montana where Jay began his career in the wood products industry as a lumber mill electrician from which he retired more than a decade ago.
Since that time, he and Charlotte have enjoyed traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada, in addition to various European and Caribbean countries.
Jay was called from this life on November 7, 2020 after a short, but hard battle with cancer. He had his wife and beloved dog, Misty, by his side as he passed.
He is survived by his wife, children and grandchildren Megan, Mark, Rochelle, Logan and Brennen. He is also survived by his 9 siblings, numerous in-laws, nieces, and nephews.
Darlington Cremation and Burial Service is caring for Jay’s family.
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