Jay England

Jay England passed away on Feb. 6, 2014, in Santa Rosa.  Jay was born in Bedford, Pa., to Simon Marshall England and Lillian Wisegarver on Jan. 31, 1932.

He is survived by his loving wife Patti; his devoted children, son, James; and daughter, Suzan.  He also leaves behind his daughter-in-law, Catharyn; son-in-law, Neil; step-daughter, Trisha; step-son, Jeffrey and his wife, Monica.

Jay was above all a family man, happiest when surrounded by his six wonderful granddaughters, Paulina (22), Veronyka (18),  Amanda (18), Portia (16), Georgia (14) and Rikkel (11).  Jay is also survived by his brother, Edward, of Philadelphia; and nephews, Ed and David and his family.

Jay attended Penn State, after graduating from Bedford High School, where he received a degree in commerce.  He attended naval officer school and served for three years on the USS Newport News in the Mediterranean.  After leaving the Navy, he returned to Penn State and received a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering.  An independent person, he made his way to Oregon where he worked for the United States Forest Service and there met his first wife, Kay Hocks, of Oregon.  Jay joined Harding Lawson Associates in Marin County in 1962 and worked there until 1970, when he and his family moved to Anchorage, Aklaska to open an HLA office there.  He was very active in the engineering community in Anchorage.  In 1987, when HLA went public, Jay was asked to return to Corporate Headquarters in Novato to help manage the company.  There he met and married the love of the second half of his life and they have made their home in Sonoma since 1989.

Friends and family are invited to attend a celebration of Jay’s life on Thursday, Feb. 13, at noon at St. Leo the Great Church at 601 W. Agua Caliente Road in Sonoma.

Interment will be privately held at Sonoma Veterans Memorial Park.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Vincent de Paul Society of St. Leo’s Church or the charity of your choice.

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