John M. Jay Sr., 84, Immersed Himself In The Furniture Business

John Marvin Jay Sr. almost always came home happy from the furniture store where he worked.

After a day managing departments at Doces' Sixth Avenue, opening a new Doces' in a Seattle suburb, or helping customers select furnishings, he'd pull up at his home on Rainier Avenue South, slide out of the car and bound across the lawn with a big grin on his face.

"I never knew if it was me or dinner he was thinking about," joked his wife of 63 years, Blanche Jay of Bainbridge Island.

"We were sweethearts all our lives. He loved his work and he loved his family. He didn't do anything out of the ordinary, but he was a family man, a good man and a happy man."

His wife treasures their dancing days, when her Jimmy Stewart-look-alike husband led her in a dashing samba across many a ballroom.

"He liked to show off a little on the floor," she said. "He was good."

Mr. Jay, who moved to Bainbridge Island in 1986, died last Sunday (Oct. 19) of diabetes. He was 84.

The past 10 years he helped out in sales and management at The Chandlery, his son's marine-supply store on Bainbridge Island. Helped, that is, when he wasn't playing golf or watching football. He had been a Seahawk season-ticket holder since the franchise began.

"He loved it here at the shop," said his son, John Marvin Jay Jr. of Bainbridge. "He was a retailer and always has been. Everybody knew Marv. He was in charge of nautical charts and fasteners. He was very exacting in how he did things, and God help those who didn't do it right."

Mr. Jay was an optimist and an avid gift-giver. While employed at the furniture store he often brought things home, such as leftover upholstery fabric, for his wife to sew into a Halloween costume for their son.

"He wasn't a pressure salesman," said John Jay Jr. "He was honest, and couldn't recommend something he didn't believe in. So people came back to him year after year. He knew furniture. God, he knew furniture."

Born in Portland and reared on Seattle's Queen Anne Hill, Mr. Jay began working for Washington Furniture after graduating from Queen Anne High School.

He liked selling. But when things were slow he took charge of departments, going to night school to become knowledgeable in carpentry or decorating. He came to manage "unit control," tracking furniture from its arrival at the store, through various displays, to its departure for a customer's home or office.

He went to work at Doces' in 1950 and stayed 25 years, having opened the Southcenter and Burien stores.

In off hours he headed committees at his church, helped dig a foundation for a new church, and spent time with his family.

"If I can be liked and admired as much as my dad," said his son, "I will be happy."

Other survivors include his daughter, Joan Newland, Kodiak, Alaska; five grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; and four great-great grandchildren. Services have been held.