Jay L. Cummings

Jay Lee Cummings, age 76 of Cincinnati, OH passed away on Feb. 21, 2024, at home of natural causes. He was predeceased by his parents, Thomas “Bud “Lowell and Helen Irene (Benson) Cummings. He leaves behind his wife, Sandiey (Gemp) Cummings, three children: Jon Cummings, Lee Ann Kruppa and Chandra Walsh, several grandchildren, one great grandchild, three siblings: Betty (Don) Adams, Bill (Dorie) Cummings, Dian (Boone) Cummings Kaufman plus nieces and nephews.

Jay was a highly analytical, methodical and logical person with an amazingly intelligent mind. At some point he decided that overly emotional reactions were a waste of time and energy, so he developed a very self-controlled demeanor. Laughter, however, remained spontaneous. Family said he reminded them of Spock from the TV/movie series Star Trek. He always hesitated, when responding to questions in conversation, for a brief moment while pondering exactly what he wanted to say. He had a great sense of humor and loved reading, enjoyed music, and played several different instruments. His ear for music was also exhibited in an excellent singing voice.

He displayed his sense of humor in notes found after his death for a project he was working on titled: “A History of The World in Rhyme” by Jay Cummings. Here is a sample of his work:

In the beginning was light

Gamma, x-ray, and sight

As time came to pass

Some condensed into mass

The rest goes on shining at night.

Jay also wanted to write his autobiography. He never got to finish that project. Here is our attempt at a brief biography by his siblings:

 Jay was born April10,1947 in Ketchikan Alaska to Thomas “Bud” and Helen Cummings. He was their second child following Betty, who was exactly 2 years older.  “Bud” worked in Ketchikan serving in the Coast Guard as a Chief Machinist. The family lived in a single car garage while digging their basement by hand and building their house. They moved into the house with full daylight basement in 1952 after the birth of Bill (1950) and in time for completing their family with Dian (1953). Bill has early memories of a full model train set up with paper mâché landscaping in the basement.

The family took many camping vacations to areas only accessible by boat around Ketchikan. They moved from the area in 1958 when Bud retired from the Coast Guard after 20 years of service.  They flew from Alaska to Portland Oregon where Bud’s sister, Sally and her husband, John Busch lived and owned a florist shop. They set out from Portland on a fabulous cross country trip to the home of Jay’s grandparents’,  Laura and Harry Benson in Susquehanna PA. The family camped all along the way in a brand-new Chevrolet Station wagon.  Betty stayed with her aunt and cousins while Jay and Bill stayed with their grandparents for the 1958-1959 school year.  Meanwhile, Bud looked for a job in Florida with Helen and Dian in tow.

Bud began his long engineering career working for Link Aviation on flight simulators in Binghamton, NY.  The family purchased acreage with a 150-year-old house in Windsor, New York in time for the start of the 59-60 school year. The property contained a pond where the family enjoyed swimming in the summers and ice skating in the winters. There was also a grass tennis court that was converted to a modified baseball and tag field by the 4 kids.  Many family vacations were spent camping at various lakes and streams around upstate New York and Pennsylvania. Jay and his younger brother Bill were both involved in Boy Scouts, attending numerous summer camps and jamborees. The brothers won the double buck sawing contest one year at Camp Tuscarora NY in the Catskill Mountains. Both brothers also successfully completed the mile swim achievement. Jay achieved the rank of Life Scout, one step below the highest possible rank of Eagle and was also a member of the Order of the Arrow. Band, drama and chess were Jay’s interests while attending Windsor Central High School, Windsor, NY.  Bill, his brother, remembers a scene in “Arsenic and Old Lace” where Jay came down a set of stairs in a nightgown holding an accordion which he extended while yawning!! He also performed in “The Mouse That Roared” production and played clarinet in the high school band.

College found him at Indiana Institute of Technology in Fort Wayne, Indiana graduating in 1969 with a degree in Aero Space Engineering. During his college years, Jay married his first wife Sondra in 1966 and their first child, Jon, was born in1967. Upon graduation, Jay was employed by Pratt and Whitney in West Palm Beach, Florida specializing in lubrication and cooling of jet engines. His twin daughters, Lee Ann and Chandra were born in1970. Jay loved his family. He assisted the kids with their activities. Unfortunately, Jay’s first marriage ended in divorce in 1977.  Sondra moved to Texas with the three children that same year; Jay moved  to Cincinnati.  When a knee injury sustained while playing with a local soccer league necessitated surgery. Jay flew to Texas for six weeks. Where Sondra kindly nursed him back to health.

Jay moved to Cincinnati to work for General Electric in their jet engine division until the engineering portion of the company was dissolved in favor of hiring consultants. While there, he worked on a test stand for next generation jet engines that would develop 80-120K pounds of thrust. Jay and other former GE engineers established their own company after leaving GE to provide consulting services. When the consulting company disbanded, he began working for Belcan Global Engineering. He was still employed as a consultant working on projects up until his death, a total of 14 years. One of his most recent projects was designing a collapsable shipping container to save space and cost during return voyages.  He also worked on a unique project helping design a high -speed, energy storage flywheel for regenerative braking on subways. Jay was the lead engineer on several Combustion Test Stands used to validate combustor design. Jay’s Section Leader at Belcan, Scott Valentine has said: “Jay was instrumental in providing other engineers at Belcan technical guidance and mentorship on the various projects they worked.” …” He was also an expert with the aerospace Industry and turbomachinery design. It seemed there was never a question that Jay could not answer or a subject matter he was not familiar with. He was always willing to help out and provide guidance to others.”

In addition to playing in a soccer league before his injury, Jay enjoyed driving a Triumph TR4 sports car in gymkhana events for a number of years. He also participated in a bowling league and built model airplanes. He did aspire to become a pilot for a time. His love of airplanes saw him attend the big air show at Oshkosh WI at least twice, most recently in July of 2023 with his brother.

While living in Cincinnati, Jay met Sandiey Gemp at a dance where she observed a sketch of a buzzard he was drawing and inquired about it. When Sandiey danced into Jays life their relationship soon blossomed into love and marriage in 1981. Sandiey is an avid doll collector and Jay helped her with many doll collectors’ conventions and events. He and Sandiey shared a mutual interest in creating miniatures and were members of two clubs. Sandiey created a very much adored miniature for Jay’s mother that featured many highlights of her life interests. Over the years the couple enjoyed several pet cats.

Hospitalization in Sept. of 2022 from a head injury prompted the couple to move from their home of 40+ years into Twin Towers Senior Living in Oct. of 2023. Sadly, four days before the move, Sandiey suffered a stroke, leaving her paralyzed on the right side. Jay coordinated the move alone and continued to work on vacating their former home. Jay was found dead, unexpectedly on Feb. 2, 2024 of natural causes, by the facility chaplain in his new home. The chaplain had gone to check on Jay after he had failed to visit Sandiey at the rehab center.

A memorial service will be held Saturday May 4, 2024 at 2:00pm in Twin Towers Adult Living Facility’s Parkview Room, 5343 Hamilton Ave In Cincinnati, OH. 45224