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Jay Paul Prestrud died unexpectedly Dec. 2, 2012, from existing health problems while vacationing in Hawaii with his family.
Jay was born in Denver to Paul and Virginia Prestrud in 1949. Two years later, the family moved to Billings, where Jay attended McKinley Elementary, Lincoln Junior High, Billings Senior High School and Eastern Montana College. Throughout his school years he was active in track, baseball and football. It was in high school that he met Barbara McClintock, whom he spent the rest of his life with and had their daughter, Lindsey. Jay was an entrepreneur at heart and had several business endeavors throughout his life. Jay was a man with a generous heart and great sense of humor. He deeply loved his family, and had a soft spot for animals, especially his Great Dane, Lillian. His legacy will be the memories and stories he has left for us — even though he is gone, he is still making us laugh.
Jay, we were lucky to have known you. Thank you for the laughter and the love.
Jay is survived by Barbara; his daughter, Lindsey, of Portland, Ore.; sister, Judy Coddington (Bill), of Vancouver, Wash.; brother and best friend, John (Peggy), of Billings; nieces Kori Dabney (Trevin), of San Francisco, and their children McKenna, Logan and Cameron, Kati Newsome (Jonathan), of Portland, and their daughter Maggie; and his dear cousin Steve (Barb) Rogers, of Denver, and their children Michael and Colleen; and many other loved family and friends.
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Steve Janich
Jay Paul..Good Man with a great Soul..Enjoyed jr. High and High School..And also, my occasional visits at your house by McKinley...Your Friend..
Jeff Madsen
Jay and I grew up together near St V's hospital. Best friends through grade school... What a fun, nice guy! Like most of my friends in Billings I sort of lost track of him... My sympathies to his family -
John Armstrong
Jay Paul and I became friends in 7th grade at Lincoln Jr High. Jay was a trendsetter and always wore the best perfectly ironed shirts and penny loafers. His perfect flat top haircut was the best I have ever seen. One memory I'd like to share is our trip to Mexico in his red VW bug. I was going to college in Denver. Jay and Ron Schuster (West '67) picked me up in Denver and we drove to Las Vegas on the first leg of our trip to Baja Mexico. We checked into our room early in the morning at a Las Vegas strip motel. We bought a six pack of Delaware Punch and proceeded to lay and swim by the pool. Jay and Ron were smarter than I and returned to the room to drink more Delaware Punch. The sun felt so good that I forgot all about time. This being my first sun exposure for the year on my pale skin, I started turning beet red. My sunburn turned out to be severe. I was in so much pain the next morning that we all decided I was in no shape to continue on to Mexico. Jay and Ron dropped me off at the airport and I flew back to Denver and spent about three days in bed writhing in pain. The good news was that Jay and Ron did make it to Mexico and other than getting sick on the water had a successful trip and made it back to Montana safe and sound in that red VW bug with a cranking sun roof.
Dona Schlenker (Cranston)
I have been lucky enough to live in Billings all my life - so I had the occassion to run into Jay over the years. He always had such a presence - from the first time I saw him at Lincoln Jr. High in the 7th grade, when he was working in the men's section at Vaughn Ragsdale (and looking dapper as always!), riding his motorcycle in high school, sitting at Mary Lou's with him, - until the last time I ran into him shortly before he died at a little coffee shop near his house on 32nd Street North. Seeing Jay ride his little Moped around Billings was a sight to behold!!!
. I'm just so glad I knew that man.
Mike Ross
I remember Jay from when I was in the 2nd or 3rd grade at McKinley Elementary School. Jay had an air of confidence and he was a natural leader. It seemed like Jay and Jeff Madsen were always together, like brothers or like two peas in a pod. They both had natural athletic abilities. We would often be given turns for choosing teammates for Kickball, Basketball, Volley Ball, etc. When my turn came, I would always choose Jay first and if Jeff wasn’t chosen, I would choose him 2nd. If I got both, it was a guaranteed win!!! I was most impressed with Jay at Lincoln Junior High School. We were in 7th grade Gym. The fire bell rang, and someone said: “Let’s take the slide.” I had not been on a slide since grade school, and it sounded like a great idea. I followed the group to the balcony and we slid down the fire escape slide to the courtyard. This confused the administrators. After the fire drill, the coach lined us up in the Gym. He explained that during a real fire or fire drill, we should always go to the nearest fire exit. The Balcony Slide was not the closest exit!!! He then asked “who took the slide?” Without hesitation, Jay said “I did, Sir!” WOW!!! Jay did not talk in a weak voice, but a strong voice. He talked as though he was proud of what he did. Very Impressive! After Jay admitted to the crime, the rest of us had no choice but to fess up. And the punishment, Jay wore it like a badge of honor. We need more guys like Jay!!!
Dan Reno
Jay Paul - the funniest guy and always Mr fun. Jay and had a lot of fun time over the years. I remember introducing him to Barb who later became his wife and Soul mate. Jay was always the life of the party and was always up for a good time. I miss his laugher and his joking personally RIP
Sherry Cox
The first guy I had a real crush on was Jay Prestrud. I don't think I ever told him, wish I had. I enjoyed reading the memories of him (sorry you didn't get to Mexico, John!)