Dear Lesley, Jennifer, Lindsey, Patrick, Mrs. Cox, Victor
I was devastated to hear of Jay's passing. Lynne and I would like to express our deepest sympathies and condolences to all.
I've known Jay for 50 years and, in Jay's memory, would like to pass on some highlights of the good times we had.
I met Jay and the rest of the Cox family in 1970 when my parents moved us to Edmonton from Victoria. We moved in next door to the Cox's and I got to know Pam, Pat and Jay. Mr and Mrs Cox were super welcoming to our family, even us young brats! I think I was in 6th grade and Jay was in 7th, or there abouts. We never went to the same school because of the Catholic / public divided school systems, so I might be off on my memory of the grade gap.
About 6 months or so later my parents bought a house a few miles away so we moved. But it was too late. Jay had already got me hooked on electronics! Jay and I both seemed to share a natural interest in mechanics. I had rebuilt a few bicycles and helped my older brothers work on motorcycles and cars back in Victoria, so I guess the electronics thing was a natural step. We kept in pretty close touch even though the bike ride between our houses involved some high traffic roads that our Mom's were not too keen on. Does that ring any bells, Mrs. Cox?
Well, what follows are some of the more notable events that come to mind that Jay and I shared.
Because we went to different schools and lived a few miles apart, it took effort to get together to collaborate on projects and ideas. One of my fond memories of the early days was that, once in a while, we'd pick a day to skip school, say after 1st period, and ride the bus downtown to meet at the military surplus store, down on Jasper Ave. This place was a treasure trove of surplus military electronics. Tube transmitters, receivers, gyros, meters, motors, all kinds of good stuff. And mostly dirt cheap. One of the first visits netted us some transmitters and receivers designed for a military band (10 meter band for any radio buffs out there) which we dragged back on the bus. We were able to get them fired up and working so we each strung a wireline antenna at our houses and we were able to talk by radio. That, we found out, is not legal, which lead us down the amateur radio and eventually CB radio paths. So we always had various radio and computer related things going on.
On a completely different vector, in junior and/or high school, one of us acquired plans for a small hydroplane racing boat, probably from Popular Mechanics. We decided we should each build one. It was basically a wedge shaped hull built out of 1/4" plywood and 1" x N birch for the side rails, spars and transom. We used to race them at a small lake just west of Edmonton, forget the name at the moment. I was able to use my dad's 6 hp Evinrude fishing motor and I think Jay had a 9 hp Johnson Sea Horse. They were fast and handled well - great naval success in our opinions!
Keeping on the water craft topic, I had had a couple of summers of sailing school in Victoria, I think Mr Cox was a sailor and Jay had some sailing experience. So, one (or maybe two) summers Jay was recruited (and offered me the chance to help) to be sailing instructors at the girl scout summer camps at Sylvan Lake near Red Dear, Alberta. The Cox's had a family friend in Red Deer with a very nice Fireball (racing class sailboat) that they let Jay and I use for extracuricular sailing during the camp. The camp boats were Flying Juniors if I remember. Well, those times are full of great memories of racing, pranks, goofing off, having fun, pushing sailing, trapezing and capsizing to the limits - many many good times!
At some point during high school the Cox's moved to Calgary. Jay and I still kept in close touch but less often and with a lot of driving back and forth, etc. I ended up attending U of A which begat a nice opportunity in Ottawa upon graduating, which then took me to Texas, to California and back to Texas. Jay headed to the west coast. Meanwhile several decades slipped away. We didn't know what cities (or maybe countries) the other was in until Jay had noticed my dad's obituary in the paper which mentioned that I was in Austin, Tx. So Jay tracked me down.
A few years ago I was able to stop by Calgary to visit Jay and family. It was so good to see them and meet the girls, get to visit with Mrs C again and also to meet Victor (who is definitely a hoot!). I had previously met Lesley back in the '80s during a trip to Victoria when they were in college. Jay and I picked up right where we left off, stayed up too late reminiscing about the good old days and consumed a few pops as they say. I feel so fortunate we had that opportunity. I'm privileged to have been friends with Jay who is truly one of the best! I will remember him always. I very much hope Lynne and I will see some of you in the coming year.
Best wishes,
Bruce Webb
