I had the privilege of co-authoring a number of technical papers with Jake, including one of the first papers on RPD (Rack Phase Differential), which we presented together at City University, in London in 2003. By that time, Jake had been to London a number of times, but it was only my second time there. So, I wanted to go out and explore, far beyond the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge, which were less than a 5-min walk from our Hotel. Jake, on the other hand, was happy having dinner at the hotel and was not into checking out things that would require us to go far out. He was never forceful on what we could or could not do, but since he was only 3 years younger than my father, and I had been learning so much from him, I didn’t even make alternative suggestions. Instead, I only kept hoping that he would want to explore, but it didn’t happen.

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A few years later, we spent a lot of time together working on the “Jackup Primer” (together with Richard Michel, Matthew Quah and Dr. Foo). If you can believe it, my writing skills weren’t as good as they are now, and Jake dutifully edited all my writing and helped me greatly with the simplification sketches we ended up including in the pamphlet, which I am told is still widely read to this date.

 

I also traveled with Jake to Singapore and of course to Houston for OTC and meetings with ABS and the IADC jackup committee meetings. For those 1-day trips to Houston, we’d leave New Orleans around 6am to make it on time for a 9am meeting, and return to NOLA in the late afternoon. Jake wasn’t always keen on attending those meetings in Houston, because due to the late return, it would mean that he would miss his practice time with his band – Yes, I too was quite surprised when I found out that Jake played in a band! Playing both the harmonica and the accordion, Jake was quite good. I got to see him perform live in a local establishment in New Orleans and at the French Quarter Festival. I still have a couple of his CDs.

 

When in Houston, Jake had an affinity for eating at NINFA’s.

 

One time, Jake told me that he never wore a shirt that didn’t have a front pocket (I presume that meant during the workdays, but I didn’t ask).

 

To date, Jake is one of the most diligent time-keepers I’ve ever met. I still don’t see how he managed to put up with a number of us who constantly needed reminders about completing our timesheets.

 

I don’t know if this is an exaggeration or not, but it seemed to me that whenever I was in Jake’s office and his phone rang, before he answered he’d look at his watch – so that he could write in his log the precise time of the call and could reference it in the future.

 

I wish I had had a chance to meet his family, but I only got to interact briefly with his companion, Debbie at one or two of the company Christmas parties. Jake was proud of his family and on occasion would mention to me their most recent accomplishments: his son getting his Forestry degree and living in Wala Wala, WA (which always sounded to me like an idyllic place to live), or how much his daughter had enjoyed working for the American Embassy in Poland (or was it the Check Republic?) before she and her husband moved to New Orleans and had their son.

 

Though Jake and I haven’t worked for the same company for almost 6 years now, we stayed in touch and I even consulted with him (and referenced his work) on a recent paper I wrote on jacking simulations. The last time I interacted with him was when I sent him a Happy Birthday wish last September via email. I asked him how he was doing and in typical Jake form, he responded matter-of-factly with “Unfortunately, this birthday finds me very sick. Hope to be better soon.”

 

Jake – I wish, indeed, that you had got better soon. We’ll miss and remember you fondly, with great appreciation for the kind of person you were and the way you treated us.