Jay Dee James

Longtime Wasilla resident Jay Dee James died peacefully with his wife by his side on May 10, 2011.

Though he loved all of Alaska and Alaska certainly loved him, he chose to live out his final days at the old family beach house in Seward. Jay fought a courageous battle with lung cancer over the past year. His family would like to thank all of those who helped him through his final journey. At Jay’s request there will be no service. A celebration of life will be held in Seward next summer.

Jay was born Sept. 10, 1943, in Santa Ana, Calif. He grew up on a farm in Tonganoxie, Kan. After high school, Jay traveled and worked a variety of jobs, including working for Procter and Gamble for about four years.

His first marriage was to Marilyn K. Evans in March 1965. In 1968, he graduated with honors from Kaw Area Vocational Technical School in Topeka, Kan., as an automobile body repairman. He worked for Jerry Allen Volkswagen in Lawrence, Kan., and eventually owned his own body shop in Tonganoxie. In the early 1970s he became a journeyman carpenter and worked on bridges in the Kansas City area. He continued to use both skills throughout his life.

In 1975, he and Marian Poterbin traveled to Alaska to be part of the Last Frontier. They were married in Anchorage that July. They spent their first winter in a tent searching for gold on Gulch Creek. He continued searching for gold all over Alaska throughout the years and owned many mining claims. One summer he worked as field superintendent and flew around the Talkeetna Mountains in a helicopter prospecting for gold.

In 1977, Jay discovered an old two-story log cabin on Main Street in Wasilla and restored it to be known as the Mother Earth Gift Shop. This building was later moved to the Wasilla Historic Townsite in downtown. Jay also worked for Busch Concrete throughout the Matanuska Valley area. In 1979, he moved his family to Montague Island in Prince William Sound where they lived for over a year. After returning to Wasilla, he worked as a carpenter and for several summers as a warehouseman for Matanuska Telephone Association.

By the mid 1980s Jay became a full-time stay-at-home dad and worked from home as an entrepreneur and inventor. He was instrumental in establishing the Inventors Institute of Alaska and helped many people with research and development of new ideas. Jay was the inventor on three patents and held many copyrights. He was the proprietor of Alaska Mercantile Warehouse and distributed many Alaska-made items throughout the United States. Jay was a true adventurer, free-spirited and lived by his motto, “It’s all good.” He will be remembered for his charismatic personality, innovative mind and being a great storyteller.

Jay is survived by his mother, Cleo Stillwell; father and companion, Earl Downing and Ethel Caldemeyer; wife of 35 years, Marian E James; daughter and son-in-law, Jayleen and Pat Harvey; son, Montague James; son and daughter-in-law, Jesse and Makaela James; grandchildren, Jesse James Jr., Veronica James, Jacob Rushing and Kal Harvey; sister, Nancy Downing; sister and brother-in- law, Jana and Jerry McFarland; father-in-law, James A Poterbin; and many other family members and beloved friends.