As these of you who’ve been studying this weblog over the previous few years know, Jason has been sick with pancreatic most cancers for the reason that summer season of 2020. With chemotherapy, the advance of the illness was slowed, however early this 12 months it turned clear that the chemo was now not working because it had been, and Jason determined to start residence hospice care. This final weekend, early on Saturday morning, he handed away, surrounded by Judy and his sons, David and Daniel.
This weblog was an necessary a part of his life for greater than a decade – a artistic outlet, a neighborhood, a tribute to his love of gardening and generally a spot to mirror on different issues in his life, together with household – and so we (his household) needed to share a little bit bit extra about him right here.
Jason was born and raised simply outdoors New York Metropolis on Lengthy Island. He was the youngest of 4 siblings, and his dad and mom, Paul and Barbara, uncovered him to a love of gardening early. (He wrote a little bit bit about his father and his father’s backyard right here.)
After highschool, Jason briefly lived on a kibbutz in Israel. Along with plenty of precious cultural alternate, this allowed him many years later to instruct his youngsters on the most effective methods to load resistant, sharp-clawed turkeys into vans for slaughter. That is one lesson his youngsters have but to place into follow.
After just a few years in Queens, New York, and Madison, Wisconsin, Jason moved to Chicago in Spring 1983 to work for DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America. He met Judy in August 1983 after they went to a convention collectively (assigned to the identical automobile, which occurred to be a small stick-shift pick-up truck, which Judy barely knew tips on how to drive; Jason had no driver’s license on the time). Earlier than the tip of a 3 hour drive from Chicago to Madison, sparks had been flying (truly, earlier than they reached the Belvidere oasis).
Jason had a eager sense of social justice, and was all the time lively, each professionally and in his private time, in combating to guard the dignity and rights of all folks. In Chicago, he labored for the Metropolitan Tenants Group; then organized households of nursing residence residents; labored as a paralegal for the eldercare program of Prepare dinner County Authorized Help; and have become Government Director of the Illinois State Council of Senior Residents Organizations (now the Illinois Alliance for Retired Individuals). He preferred combating for the rights of senior residents, however he hated fundraising and administration (he was nervous about tax studies for ISCSCO for years after he left, though he had achieved them in addition to he may), and was glad finally to transition to the political affairs division of AARP. There, he labored within the Dakotas and Nebraska (although primarily based in Chicago), which led to additional cultural alternate, such because the time he tried to get a haircut in Pierre, South Dakota, and his barber (who was not aware of curly Jewish hair) refused to consider he hadn’t had a perm. Later, he labored in Wisconsin, the place he helped cross laws creating a brand new program to scale back the price of pharmaceuticals for seniors (earlier than the Medicare Half D drug program was launched).
He spent the final 20 years of his profession on the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Workers, AFSCME Council 31, a union which represents 90,000 Illinois public and nonprofit staff. He masterminded victories for pro-labor candidates in necessary legislative and native authorities elections, and was a essential a part of legislative lobbying efforts to lift wages for low-paid human companies staff, particularly these caring for folks with developmental disabilities.
In his free time, after all, Jason cherished to backyard. It was the last word escape from lobbying in state capitols and combating state and municipal forms to safe respectable working circumstances, and from the craziness that has overtaken our nation within the final a number of years. Gardening introduced him nice satisfaction and pleasure (in addition to the same old frustration of gardeners all over the place).
As readers right here know, his love of gardens got here as a lot from a way of caprice and easy appreciation for stunning issues as a love of working open air within the grime and an appreciation for the scientific, historic, and cultural which means of gardens and gardening. He was as more likely to cease and recognize a flower or wild grass in a park or on the facet of a path as he was to spend hours flipping between backyard catalogs and a sketchbook to fine-tune the following season’s plantings, or to make his means by stacks of books on the historical past of gardening in England or Japan, or the most recent from Piet Oudolf. He stored Judy busy taking pictures to doc the whole lot in order that it might be shared with all of you.
And naturally he cherished to share his appreciation and information. He did that right here on his weblog, with household and buddies, and neighbors or anybody else who stopped by to admire his backyard at residence. He took penning this weblog very severely, and needed to offer actual data, together with a smile and a private perspective. (We hear him over our shoulder telling us that this submit is way too lengthy; he would have damaged it into two.)
Jason and Judy had been each astonished and delighted by the variety of good buddies they made by mutual appreciation of gardens, by this weblog, in addition to individuals who stopped on the sidewalk to admire our backyard, and folks they met on Backyard Blogger Flings and thru the course of admiring different peoples’ gardens and public gardens. Even the hospice physician who got here to our home final week exclaimed that she had pushed previous our backyard many instances and cherished it.
You solely should learn by this weblog to see how a lot Jason cherished crops and gardening. He talked to and communed with crops. He was all the time sneaking in an additional shrub (with out letting Judy know), however he additionally planted many flowers as a result of Judy admired them (hellebores and tulips amongst others) and most of them, he got here to like – and Judy even got here to like a lot of the shrubs.
Moreover gardening, Jason utilized his good humor and curiosity to quite a few different topics, together with American and Russian historical past, geography, birding, and journey. (Listed here are some posts about journey to New York, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Russia, Turkey, and Japan.) Within the final seven months of his life, he picked up a brand new curiosity: his granddaughter, Addie. He was significantly good at making her snigger with new “video games” like utilizing a blanket to cowl her after which pulling it away.
Most significantly, Jason was a loving and supportive father, husband, and grandfather; buddy and colleague. He instilled his values and love of studying in his youngsters, and introduced pleasure to many by his exuberant gardens and his writing. Thanks for being part of the neighborhood he created right here, and we hope you’ll keep as we proceed to submit occasional updates and pictures of the backyard and our household. As talked about in an earlier submit, we now have employed an exquisite backyard service, Vivant Gardens, to assist keep the backyard.
For many who want to make a donation in honor of Jason, we now have two options.
The labor motion and combating for the rights and dignity of all staff, however particularly low-wage staff, has been crucial to Jason and his household. We all know personally how necessary labor unions are. Jason was identified with most cancers at age 61, and was unable to proceed working. Underneath many if not most circumstances, this could have been financially devastating. Nevertheless, the union continued his medical insurance for a number of years till he was eligible for Medicare, supplied glorious incapacity insurance coverage, and an outlined profit pension. Along with how a lot we love all of the colleagues Jason labored with, and who really feel like household, we additionally recognize the union motion as an entire. Each employee ought to have these advantages.
We’ve seemed for a significant place for folks to ship donations in Jason’s reminiscence. A type of we wish to advocate is Warehouse Staff for Justice, a staff middle that organizes and fights for the rights of staff in distribution and logistics in Illinois. Should you use Amazon or different on-line delivery firms however need to see the employees who make these deliveries attainable obtain the wages, protected working circumstances and job safety they deserve (otherwise you don’t use these companies due to the precarious nature of these jobs), WWJ is a good place to help. You’ll be able to donate right here. It doesn’t seem like you’ll be able to designate a donation in reminiscence of somebody by the net portal, so we’d recognize in the event you may drop a card to the PO Field beneath, or submit within the feedback, in order that we are able to thanks correctly.
Secondly, after all, we now have a backyard donation advice. Jason cherished gardens far and broad, however he additionally actually loved the general public parks proper right here in Chicago, such because the West Ridge Nature Middle and Montrose Level Chicken Sanctuary. In just a few days, we’ll do a submit about a few of our latest visits to Montrose Level. We plan on gathering donations to the Chicago Parks Basis, for use to assist pay for a memorial bench for Jason at Montrose Level and likewise help the packages and work of the Basis. If you wish to make this donation, we’re asking for checks to be made payable to “Chicago Parks Basis” with “Jason Kay” within the memo line, and to be despatched to:
Judy Hertz, 848 Dodge Ave, Field 348, Evanston, IL 60202
We’ll accumulate them and switch them in collectively, and prepare for a bench. We’ll submit a photograph when the bench is positioned.
If you wish to ship a card to the household, Field 348 can also be an excellent place, except you might have our residence tackle.
Keep tuned, extra to return — and we need to say once more how a lot your participation on this weblog dialog meant to Jason, and means to us.
Judy, Daniel and David
