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To my very special cousin and his beautiful family. The following are lyrics from "Beautiful Boy" by John Lennon and, I believe, a fitting tribute. Close your eyes Have no fear The monster's gone He's on the run and your daddy's here Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Before you go to sleep Say a little prayer Every day in every way It's getting better and better Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Out on the ocean sailing away I can hardly wait Too see you come of age But I guess we'll both just have to be patient 'Cause it's a long way to go A hard row to hoe Yes it's a long way to go But in the meantime Before you cross the street Take my hand Life is what happens to you While you're busy making other plans Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful Beautiful boy

Submitted By: Denee' Widmer

I'm a good friend of Denee Widmer and learned about Jason through our weekly "Ohio to Florida" phone calls. God bless you all and give you peace. Love & Prayers

Submitted By: Linda Lynch

I met Jason when we were 12. It was at worthingway middle school. I had homeroom with him. He was always the sweetest guy. Just so nice, and always smiling. That big grin we all know.I wll miss him.

Submitted By: Missy O'Reilly Everett

Jason would always give gummy bears out to his classmates in college. I thought he was being a horrible flirt, but he gave them to the wildlife management boys too, so I realized he was just giving everyone candy (and a big grin).

Submitted By: Loucile

jason would stop in nebraska to visit , usually during the holidat. he was always in a good, upbeat mood, except that time i mentioned gators and buckeyes.

Submitted By: vnce powers

The first time my friend and I met Jason we couldn't get over how much he looked like Steve McQueen the actor. Every time I had the pleasure of seeing Jason and his family he always had a smile on his face and I loved those chubby cheeks of his. Miss you and will never forget what a wonderful father,husband and friend you were.

Submitted By: Donna Murray

I first met Jason when he was dating Loucille in college. He was the type of person that was a rue listener and always had something wise to say. There was a time in my life where I really needed help as I was going through some of the hardests momments in my life and Jason and Loucille opened their house and hearts for me. I will never ever forget that. I know where you are right now and I know you are happy!!!! So long my friend, Jerry Figueroa

Submitted By: Jerry and Ethel Figueroa

I had the opportunity to get to know Jason while Loucile and my wife Lynn were in law school. He was one of the nicest, most genuine people I have ever known. I will greatly miss his friendship as well as his never wavering positive outlook on life. I hope I can be as great a father to my son as he was to his three beautiful children. We miss you Jason!

Submitted By: Dustin Verdin

Jason's last words were "I love you, Princess." Jason has always called me Princess since we started dating in college.

Submitted By: Loucile

I met Jason at a brunch when I was in law school with Loucile. I had heard so much about him and his environment-loving ways that I was sure I would like him. I was right! He was so polite and friendly, and I regret that I didn't get to visit with him more before the family moved to Colorado.

Submitted By: Erin Wojno

When Jason was first diagnosed, after some serious tears and words, we made a pact that come December he would invite his crew to Steamboat Springs for a weekend of powder skiing and the celebration of life. With courage and determination, only a few days post chemo, J and his gang visited and we had the most amazing time together. Smiles, laughter, crashes and face shots were the theme while all of us enjoyed J’s company one last time in his most favorite element: the slopes. The memories of J cruising down, thru the powder, under the most blue bird sky will be with us forever. His compassion for all of us, the integrity he had when times were tough, a contagious enthusiasm for life and his loyalty to family and his friends will be with us forever.

Submitted By: kent vertrees

I met Jason during my first semester of law school, when we were both in the part-time evening program at Capital University Law School. He was a year ahead of me in the program. My sister and brother-in-law were friends of Jason and had mentioned to him that I was attending. For me, finally going to law school in my 50s was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. Unfortunately, the "dream" was not going so well during my first semester. I had always loved attending school and always been a successful student, right through grad school. Law school, however, was different. I couldn't seem to adapt to the culture and felt frustrated with my studies. Furthermore, trying to keep up with the heavy law school demands while working full time was exhausting. Complicating matters even further, was the early demise of two law school friendships. These were friendships I thought I would be able to count on as a law school support system. Instead, they hit the rocks, early casualties of the stress and craziness of law school. I was beginning to think my decision to attend law school later in life and while working in a demanding professional career was a big mistake. For some reason, in my life just when a situation can look it's darkest, God always sends me an "angel." This time he sent Jason. Jason left a business card in my mailbox, explaining that my sister had told him about me, and that he wanted to help. At that point, I thought he was just being polite and pretty much dismissed his offer. Jason, however, was true to his word. He called me and set up a meeting one day right before classes in the law school commons. At our first meeting, Jason came rushing in, a little late, wearing a suit and explaining that he was held up at work. Jason seemed oblivious to our age difference- he was young enough to be my son- and greeted me warmly. He was armed with outlines for all my first year classes. He had had all my same professors the previous years. Jason was able to explain to me why I needed the outlines and what it was I was supposed to be learning. He even knew all the little idiosyncrasies of my professors. For the first time, I found myself actually laughing about law school. Jason seemed to sense my despair about law school and put me at ease. He kept in touch with me with e-mails that always encouraged me and made me feel better. He warned me to study early for finals and what to expect on my exams. He assured me I would be fine and for some reason, I believed him. Jason was working at an even more demanding job than I was and he seemed to take everything in stride. I have a tendency to stress out and worry, but Jason could always make me laugh. I remember one time running into him right after my final exam in Real Property. He had just finished his final exam in Personal Income Tax. As we talked, I became enlightened to the fact that I, too, would have to take Personal Income Tax as it was a required course at Capital. I began to fret and complain, right away, almost to the point of tears, that I would never be able to pass a class on Tax. Jason held up his hand like a stop sign and said, "Stop right now. I have a great outline on Tax, ergo, you will have a great outline on Tax." All I could think to respond with was, "We say 'ergo' now?" Jason smiled and said, "Of course. We're lawyers." What I remember most about Jason was that when I would be stressing and carrying on about whatever was going on in law school, Jason would stop me by saying, "Bernadette, remember, this is just law school. It's not your life." He was so right about that. There was and is so much more to life than law school, or the practice of law. One example of this is children. Jason loved children. He never failed to ask me about my young niece and I remember when he told me about Caroline's birth. Looking slightly rumpled and very sleep-deprived, he spotted me in the law school library and hurried over to tell me his big news- that he was a father. Jason embraced fatherhood. I remember one day Jason and I were at the law school library at 5:30 a.m. before both of us had to be at work. We were working on an extremely tedious Law Review cite-checking assignment. Jason mentioned that he had been up the night before with baby Caroline and had had only a couple hours of sleep. As he described her antics, we both began to laugh in the punchy, silly way people laugh when they are exhausted. We attracted some stares from the few students who were also in the library at that ungodly hour. One even commented that he wanted to work on whatever it was we were working on. I have struggled with Jason's passing as it seems very hard to see what God's plan could be in taking him at such a young age and with so much of life ahead of him with a young vibrant family. My conclusion is that I really don't understand it and probably never will. However, with apologies to Oprah, what I know for sure is that Jason left a legacy to me, and that legacy was to reach out to people, no matter what the age difference. The other day, as I hurried through a mall parking lot to my car, I noticed an elderly lady looking confused. I glanced at her thinking she must have forgotten where she parked, and walked quickly past her, as I was in a hurry. Then, I stopped in my tracks. For a split second, Jason's face flashed in my mind. Ergo, I went back to see if I could help her. :<)

Submitted By: Bernadette Laughlin

I was visiting Jason and family in Columbus. Loucile became ill and I drove her to the doctor's office. At the doctor's office it was recommended to take her to the hospital. I had to remove car seat from the car and put it in the back. When I closed the back hatch it closed on Jason's fishing pole and broke it. I got Loucile to hospital and Jason just laughed about breaking his favorite fishing pole.

Submitted By: Dan Powers

Let me preface this entry by informing readers that all the fun and dirty parts have been expurgated. Anyway, Jason was a law school chum. Over the course of four tedious and draining years, we spent many a blur-eyed moment together drifting into unconsciousness while attempting to study in the library. By the fifth or sixth time that our heads hit the desktop, or puddles of drool accumulated on our shirt fronts, we’d schlep out to drink bad coffee, bitch about clueless professors and classmates, and discuss other existential matters. In the course of our conversations—and this only struck me after his death—I never recall him speaking ill of others. That is, Jason could jibe with the best of them, but never did he insult or spill bile on another. He might shake his head, with that cock-eyed grin of his, but wouldn’t sink to cruelty. I think it was part of his nature, all too rare in the world, where you assume the best in others and restrain from disparaging others, lest you stand in their place. It’s a trait I wish I possessed. Jason also held a finely-tuned appreciation for good ales and wine. I can honestly say that he never offered me a skunky beer. And when he and Loucile held a shindig, one never lacked for good eats, drinks, or laughs. I suppose it’s the sign of good breeding—or finding a classy mate. I view his early death as a cosmic injustice, but I take solace in the fact that he embraced life with a stoicism borne of a good heart. His eyes gleamed when he spoke of his children, and he appreciated a good joke. Let us remember to raise our pint glasses to his memory. Maybe I’ll even restrain my foul tongue or hold the door for a stranger. It’s what he would have done.

Submitted By: James Jensen