Jay Willis Gibbons

Jay Willis Gibbons, a devoted son and brother, beloved uncle, cousin and amazing friend, died in a motorcycle accident in Show Low, Arizona on June 30, 2021, at the age of 61.  Jay was born on October 11, 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona to Willis Spencer Gibbons and Doris Carolyn Woolsey.  Jay spent his youth in South Phoenix and then West Phoenix where he attended Alhambra High School.  In his early 20’s, Jay completed an electronics certification and then moved to Nevada to work for a defense contractor at the Tonopah Test Range Airport using electronic warfare mechanisms to simulate combat operations.  Jay was very good at his job, and he got a big kick out of using radar to virtually shoot down the pilots who were training on a variety of Soviet-designed Aircraft. 

Jay earned his Associate of Applied Science degree, Certified Emergency Paramedic from Northland Pioneer College.  Between 2009 and 2015, Jay worked for the Show Low Fire Department, which later became the Timber Mesa Medical and Fire Department, as a firefighter, EMT and finally a paramedic.  He later worked for Navajo Rescue in the Tuba City area and then returned to work for Show Low EMS as a paramedic, and at the time of his death was working for American Medical Rescue in Phoenix, Arizona.  Jay had a deep commitment to helping people and to saving lives.  As a result of his work as a paramedic during the Covid pandemic he contracted a serious case of the virus and was still recovering when he passed away. 

Jay craved knowledge.  He read extensively, and was conversant in literature, history, science, and medicine.  Jay loved to play the guitar, shoot guns, and ride his mountain bike.  He will be remembered as a musician, a patriot, a lover of learning, and a man of faith. 

Jay was devoted to his family, in particular his parents who he was blessed to live with and sometimes care for in the past several years.  Jay will be lovingly remembered by his mother, Carolyn; his siblings, Dennis (Cara) and Julee (Kevin); his nieces and nephews, Jeremy (Mary), Brittany (Taylor), Sarah, Jared (Taylor), Spencer, Dalton, and Erica; his great-nieces and nephews, Emelia, Elsie, Madison, Elijah, Sawyer, Owen, Olive, Jude, Lincoln and Gideon; and numerous family members, friends and colleagues.  Jay was preceded in death by his father, Willis Spencer Gibbons, and his sister Annette Carolyn Gibbons. 

A viewing will be held on Friday evening, July 9^th at Owens Livingston Mortuary in Show Low, Arizona, from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M.  Another viewing will be held from 10:00 A.M. - 10:45 A.M. at the Linden Valley Chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 971 Timberland Road, Show Low, Arizona with the Funeral Services beginning at 11:00 A.M., followed by Concluding Services at 3:00 P.M. at the Eagar Cemetery, 299 W. 3rd Street, Eagar, Arizona.