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| A tribute to a dear friend........
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Jan Edward Dowgiert
Jan Edward Dowgiert passed away Oct. 20 from a long battle with Cystic Fibrosis. He was born on Dec. 21, 1977 to Michele Haffey and Mark Dowgiert. He is survived by his mother and father; brothers Paulryan Haffey, Alex Dowgiert; Sisters, Jessica Dowgiert, Arianne Haffey; Grandfather Bill Koeing, Aunts Terry Padgett, Carla Stewart, Uncle Bill Koeing, several nephews and nieces. Services will be held at The Church Of Jesus Christ Of The Latter Day Saints at 6:30 pm Sunday Oct. 28th, at 1705 N. Murray Blvd.
Published in The Gazette on 10/25/2007.
Jan Edward Dowgiert, known to his friends as “Jed”. Jed died on the morning of Saturday October 20, in his sleep with his mom close by. He will be missed by his friends, his family and the people that were touched by his life, as he was an authentic person.
I met Jed in the winter of 1999; he began dating my best friend Tonya. We hung out and I then met his best friend Ross. Soon enough we were all fast friends. When Tonya broke up with Jed, he called me to talk through his feelings. Through the years we became every close, almost best friends. Along with way, Ross and I became friends too. Another friend Mike, who dated Tonya too, became part of our little group. Together they became “My Boys”.
Jed and I became very close through our childhood illness, my childhood cancer and his Cystic Fibrosis. He told me many times that he felt that I understood how he felt dealing with his illness, because I have a daily reminder of my bout with cancer. We would talk for hours. Through our friendship he would ask how Tonya was doing and repeatedly told me that he would treat her like a queen. I honestly believe that if he could re-do his relationship with Tonya he would have done things different. But I believe that God choose to allow the relationship to end, in order for our relationship to grow. He struggled with the end of that relationship, they were only together for a few weeks by it was a relationship of a lifetime, and he tortured himself with it for years.
“My Boys” through years of friendship saw relationships come and go, new jobs and job promotions, but we truly loved each other. As many friendships go, we all began to grow and change and we grew apart, Mike got married, I got promoted, and Ross moved to go to school. Jed felt abandoned by us and he became angry and pushed us away.
For the last two years, Jed and I spoke maybe twice, after he broke up with his girlfriend, Billy Jo, and the second when I got engaged. He didn’t speak to Ross and Mike spoke to him a handful of times. I don’t quite know what I did to cause him not to speak to me, he never really told me. What I want to think is that he wanted me to be with Ian and work on our relationship. Mike tried to help, but Jed really didn’t want to work it out. So I left it alone. I really missed his companionship, but I knew that I had to respect his desire to be left alone.
Honestly, it got hard to see him so sick. We had a connection that I had with no one else in my life. We were sick as children; we spent a lot of time in hospitals as we grew. I got better, he got worse. He was given a 13 year life expectancy, and I was handed a full life sentence.
Here is a few things that are unique to Jed that I will remember forever………
He love Barq’s root beer, with no ice
He call Harabo gummy bears, Jugibo bears
He loved to drive fast, to the point of losing his license for years
He said “blasé” for “blah”
He loved Ghost in the Shell
He was an awesome spinner
He loved his Schwinn
He was a romantic
He had a kick ass collection of Playboy’s, for the articles!
He loved his God
He was a clean freak and a perfectionist
He never allowed himself to be rushed
He shared a birthday with my dad, and they had a running joke that Jed
had to pay him rent for using his birthday, as my dad had it first
He was honest to the point of being cruel to the people he loved
He had the funniest laugh, I will never forget it, and I miss hearing it
He was respectful to everyone that he met, Yes sir, No Ma’am
He was great with kids
He was loved by me
Jed,
I will miss you, I was honored to be a part of your life. You made such footprints in my life, they are permanent. The pain of your departure is beyond imagine, and I am afraid to feel it. Thank you for your friendship.
Me
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Jed was fortunate to have you as a friend...I have lost a wife, a mother, and a bundle of wonderful friends to cancer and other diseases...I remember them all...this is the way we honour them...his passing has now let you touch others....and the circle continues...all caused by the love for another human being...take care and may your God be with you in this time of loss.
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Posted by 2rivers
on 2007-10-30 16:30:47
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My name is Brian Kosnar. Jed was my best friend when he moved to Gilpin County, Colorado during our 5th grade year. He left Gilpin about 4-5 years later, and I was crushed to lose such an amazing person in my life. Jed was one of the single most unique individuals I have ever known. I will never forget his laugh, he loved to laugh so much, sometimes to the point where he was desperately reaching for his inhaler to keep from falling over. He and I shared a similar bond due to the fact that my father was a severe diabetic, and I had first hand experience as to what an illness does to a family. I had not seen Jed since my high school graduation, and often wondered how he was doing. He often joked when we were kids that he had to do all his living now because he wasn't even going to live long enough to drive a car. I can't tell you how happy I was to see that you posted this memorial to Jed. I'm so proud of the fact that he lived so long, considering most doctors told him as a child that he would not make it into his early 20's. I want to thank you very much for allowing me (and a lot of people back in Colorado who cared about him very much) to have this closure.
I don't know if you'll ever read this posting, but I want you to know that Jed made an impact on a lot of people here as well, especially my family. We loved him very much, and he and I used to call each other "brother".
My email address is minclassics@aol.com, if you want to contact me.
Thanks again,
Brian Kosnar
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Posted by minclassics
on 2008-04-14 01:02:18
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| Views: 117
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