Birth date: Oct 20, 1942 Death date: Jan 30, 2025
William Leroy Jaggi passed from this world the morning of January the 30th. He is survived by all those who loved him. His beloved spouse of over fifty years Anita. Along with their children Andria, David, Jason, Melinda and Ti. H Read Obituary
Dad with the yellow jacket is at my justice of the peace wedding in 2022. The others are more recent
What do I say about my dad? Where do I start?
He was born in Pennsylvania, one of a dozen children. Somehow, he ended up here in California, where he earned his degree in accounting. But worked as a machinist and eventually as a mechanical engineer, retiring from his job at Solar Turbines when he was in his early to mid 60s.
He met and married my mom more than 55 years ago. Now you know how old I am :) When they met, they were neighbors living in the same apartment building. My older brothers and sister from my mom's first marriage used to play in my dad's flower box. When he came over to complain, he ended up taking her out to see a movie, 'The Sound of Music'. Well, we know that it worked out...The rest is history as they say... He was a devoted husband and father. He worked to provide a home and security for his family.
When we were much younger, I remember family vacations to Sequoia national park where we would go camping. Truly camping, where the cold creek served as a refrigerator for our drinks, and you had to take a shovel with you into the woods to do your business and mom would cook our meals over the campfire. I remember that there was this natural smooth rock waterslide that he would take us to and one by one, he would hold onto us, and slide down with us, because we were too little to go on our own. He loved us kids and would frequently comment on how beautiful and smart he believed we were. It made me feel smarter, anyways... He was always an avid reader and passed that love for reading on to his children. He also enjoyed groan worthy puns. A gift that my younger brother and sister share. Not me.
He's a man that embraced his passions. He loved plants, especially palms. He made the front and back yards of our family home into a jungle of sorts. He also loved his orchids and especially enjoyed giving the blooms away to special people. He enjoyed frogs and so many frog figurines litter the landscape of his gardens. His wardrobe consisted of so many Hawaiian shirts or for colder weather, plaid flannels. I used to 'Borrow" those flannels as a teenager :)
He didn't drink or smoke but still ended up with a bad heart. He did whatever he could with what he believed would help him to get stronger. He used to ride his bicycle every day until he couldn't. Once, he was even hit by a car while riding. He swore that HE stopped the car with his body's brute strength while his bike ended up bent and broken. Luckily, he really was ok. He went for daily walks that over the years got slower and slower. He did his own version of calisthenics and would proudly demonstrate how low he could squat. He loved his 5# dumbbells. He always wanted to be strong and had a competitive nature to show off what he was capable of. He bought a billion supplements, probably hoping for that magical combination that would finally do the trick. He would tell anyone that would listen all about Astragalus and Cordyceps. Supplements that he would swear by...
He loved his family so much. He would call his brothers and sisters on the East coast almost every day. Thank God for cell phones! and that long distance charges are now a thing of the past! He could spend hours on the phone with them. At least as long as the phone charge would last. He'd even be spotted dozing off from time to time. But between him and his siblings, that seemed OK. He worried so much about the wellbeing of those of them that are left with almost half having already passed.
I got to spend more time with my dad this past year when he was in and out of the hospital. I had some real in-depth conversations with him about his faith and found that he has a strong belief in God and Heaven. He said that he felt ready to go when he first had his heart attack about 15 years ago but that his greatest fear was to leave my mom alone. I remember reassuring him that she will never be alone. She has us and that he made sure that she will be well taken care of even after he is gone.
He demonstrated a life well lived. He loved his family, spent time on his passions and ultimately had faith in Heaven. Love you dad.
Memorial location changed. Please see photo
