Jay C. Radaz surrendered on December 26, 2009, to an insidious disease, Type I Juvenile Diabetes, and its many invasive partners.



Jay was born May 26, 1962, in Santa Maria, to Marilyn and Charlie Radaz, their only child. He attended Pine Grove School in Orcutt. After moving to Lompoc in 1973, he attended Buena Vista, Vandenberg Middle School and Cabrillo High School. Jay graduated from Cabrillo in 1980, lettering on their championship golf team. After earning an Associate of Science Degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management at Santa Barbara City College in 1983, he attended Cal Poly Pomona.



Jay held managerial positions in several prestigious hotel properties in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. His health conditions changed his career course. He was very successful in moving from a manufacture sale representative to national sales manager in the fine collectible industry. He traveled extensively, something he enjoyed, since he was meeting people and seeing interesting places.



In recent years, Jay maintained his interest in family, friends, animals, cars, sports, antiques and collectibles, plants, and many other things. In May 2009, Jay was honored with a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship. In June 2009, Jay entered a rose he grew in his patio in the Lompoc Flower Show and won the Midge Burnett Best Novice Rose Crystal Award.



Jay possessed a depth of detailed knowledge in his career fields and, as his family and friends will attest, his recollections, often humorous, of past events was without equal.



Jay's family is small but dedicated to Jay's life and memory. He is survived by Lompoc residents, Marilyn J Radaz, mother; F. Charles Radaz, father; Tessa Johnson, maternal grandmother; Maggie Lee Mills, paternal grandmother, Groves, TX; Georgia Brown, aunt, and Ethel Cross, aunt, Denver, CO; Clay Mills, uncle, Humble, TX; and Gregg Brown, uncle, Denver, CO; Mariam Decker, his former wife, Lompoc; and six wonderful, talented cousins in New York City, Los Angeles, and Connecticut.



Our sincere, heartfelt thanks go out to all who helped Jay so much over these years: friends, doctors, nurses, caregivers, emergency personnel, and dialysis center personnel.



A Gathering of Family and Friends to honor Jay will be held at the First United Methodist Fellowship Hall, 925 North F Street, Lompoc, CA 93436, from 2 to 4 PM on Sunday, 10 January 2010.


Contributions may be made in lieu of flowers to Sansum Diabetes Research Institute, 2219 Bath Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. www.sansum.org