 Members of Jay Derby's family. Special to The Appalachian
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by EDWARD SZTUKOWSKI
News Editor
Friends and family members gathered at Matthews United Methodist Church in Matthews Saturday to celebrate the life of Jay F. Derby, a junior business major who died Nov. 22.
Jay graduated from Butler High School in 2007, and then came to Appalachian State University where he was interested in pursuing a career in business.
His mother, Susan Derby, said Jay wanted to open his own business one day, but was still trying to figure out what to do.
Susan said Jay
applied to three colleges, was accepted to all, but came to Appalachian
because of his friends and his interest in the jazz band.
“He
always liked the mountains,” Susan said. “I know the first time I think
that we went on a vacation to the mountains, he and his sister were
pretty young and they just loved the mountains.”
 Jay Derby pauses for a photo while hiking with friends. Special to The Appalachian
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Jay
played the tenor saxophone in high school, and was involved in the
school jazz band. He originally planned to come to Appalachian and play
in the jazz band.
“He
wanted to get into jazz band, but kind of just didn’t do that,” Susan
said. “But he always had the saxophone up there and played it for fun.”
Heather Derby, Jay’s sister, wrote in her eulogy she and Jay were partners at family gatherings and kept each other grounded.
“I wish
we had been closer and I had known more about his life,” Heather said.
“It is a great comfort to me to know that we were always such good
friends and had so much fun together.”
Heather said she and Jay never had any sibling rivalries, and didn’t have trouble getting along with one another.
“No
matter how different our interests were at different stages as we grew
up, we always had special games and jokes and activities that the two
of us shared,” she said.
Jay’s parents said he was a huge sports fan, and was willing to try anything once.
“You name it, he wanted to try it,” Susan said. “He could ski and wakeboard and last year he learned how to snowboard.”
Jay liked to play golf, go fishing, play baseball and go skiing, his mother said.
“We went on vacations to the beach; he liked to fish,” she said. “[He] fished with his daddy ever since he was four.”
Susan said she will remember Jay as a thoughtful and careful person.
“When he
was a little boy he was just so cute and funny, and his dad and I just
enjoyed him so much,” she said. “We just thought he was a blessing.
Mostly he was a wonderful person.”
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