Sadly, Jay Sturla unexpectedly passed away Monday morning at St. Louise ER after being rushed there by paramedics, suffering from hemorrhaging of a main blood vessel near his lungs and heart.

Jay will be greatly missed by many people.  Rarely would he go to town without having multiple friends and acquaintances stopping with him to say hi and catch up.  Jay, being a 4th generation Gilroy resident, enjoyed learning tricks and lessons from a huge amount of family and friends that grew together over the years.  Spending his entire 62 years in Gilroy, he left lasting impressions on everyone that met him.  Jay was always fiddling around trying to figure something out, fixing it or building another one.   He was great helping others and troubleshooting anything, especially mechanical or electrical.  He was a rare person that had so much common sense that truly turns out is not that common for most of us.  A jack of all trades, he loved working on hot rods and Harley's.  But primarily it was his truck.  He recently finished restoring and customizing his '63 Chevy and was getting ready to paint it.  He was anxious to start showing it, so that everyone could appreciate his hard work (which practically was done entirely by his own two hands).  He was a true artist.  And loved to say:  "if you're going to do a job then at least do it right; elsewise, why even do it?"   And would aways let you know if "that's not safe!"

Jay was very excited to finally get the PET/CT scan that he'd been asking so long for.  It was scheduled for it in just one week.  He completed radiation and chemo treatments for Stage III, non-small cell squamous lung cancer and was doing well, until he started the immuno-therapy (which was eventually stopped after the third session).  Doctors were not expecting the news of his sudden passing.  He put in a hard fight, went quick, and is definitely in much more comfort and peace now.

He is, and always will be, tremendously missed by all that knew and loved him.

Jay is preceded in death by his father Jimmy and mother Gay, of Gilroy. He is survived by his long lasting love of 24 years, fiancé Julie Van Vactor; his sister Lori Bihler and her husband Wayne, of San Jose; brother Brian Sturla and his wife Diane, of Gilroy; and nieces Danielle Cabral and her husband Brad and their son Kingston, of Felton, and Kristi Caminiti and her husband Cody and their son Casey, of Nevada.

A gathering of family and friends to share their love, laughter, support, and many stories will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday April 1st at the Gilroy Veterans Hall, 74 West 6th Street.