People Plus - Tomahawk Leader

Page 10— Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2013
People Plus
Kathy’s Kolumn
By
Kathy
Tobin
When I was a little boy
my father would take us away
west past the fall of the Spirit –
we’re going to God’s Country, he’d say
Take me to the Newwood –
out where I know I’ll have room to roam
where the air’s clear as crystal and
the morning mist will
always be calling me home.
Deep in the heart of my darkest days when
my soul cries out for a sweet place to fly,
I dream of its beauty, the tall shining
timbers,
the black velvet star-studded sky.
So take me to the Newwood,
out where I know I’ll have room to roam
where the air’s clear as crystal and
the morning mist will
always be calling me home…
-Jay Leggett
“Although his address
was Los Angeles, this was
where he lived,” said longtime friend and actor, Mitch
Rouse as part of the eulogy
for Jay Michael Leggett
preceding his memorial Mass
at St. Mary Church Saturday.
Tomahawk’s “Hollywood
star” died of an apparent heart
attack doing what he loved
most, deer hunting with his
family and friends at the
shack. It was opening day – a
day he considered “better than
Christmas.” He had gotten
his deer and came back to the
shack for a knife. Leggett, 50,
was found collapsed near his
ATV.
No one ever had to ask
Jay where he was from, Rouse
said. “He brought the entire
town (of Tomahawk) to Los
Angeles,” he noted.
“He was an amazing,
amazing man on so many
levels,” Rouse said, unable
to maintain his composure. “I
spent so much time with Jay
trying not to laugh; to try not
to cry is hard now,” he stated,
with long, broken moments of
sorrow.
Jay had a way of making
him feel special, Rouse
related, but added he has
since learned his friend did
that to everyone.
“If there were a few more
of him around, the world would
be a better place,” Rouse said,
thanking his family and the
Tomahawk community for
what he considered a gift.
Likewise, an actor friend
from London, Lesley Jones,
said Jay was a combination of
energy, creativity, humor, wit,
insight and compassion.
“In a real and profound
way, he never left Tomahawk,”
said John Millard, a college
friend from the University
of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
Referring to his musical
talents, Millard felt certain the
strumming of a guitar and not
the plucking of a harp would
now greet friends and family
in heaven.
Another good friend, Paul
Chilson, played the guitar and
sang.
According to Kevin
Krueger of Generations
Funeral Home and Crematory,
Joel Murray, Bill Murray’s
brother, was among those who
attended the services.
Also speaking during the
eulogy, Linda Moore, who
mentored the Tomahawk actor
at UW-SP during his college
years, saw him as talented, a
perfectionist – “a smart and
such a compassionate man.”
His gifts included writing,
humor and the ability to teach,
she said.
Mike Sandry spoke on
behalf of the gang at hunting
camp who enjoyed Jay’s wit
and extraordinary cooking
abilities. “He embodied the
spirit of the Newwood,” Sandry
said. Noting that Jay was an
avid Wisconsin and Green Bay
Packer fan, Sandry recalled
Jay’s concern about missing a
Badger game opening day of
hunting. But not to worry, he
said, the Newwood Club may
not have running water and
uses a generator for electricity,
but it does have satellite TV
with a DVR.
“He left us with a video
documentary, “To The Hunt,”
Sandry observed. “To The
Hunt, buddy,” he said directed
at Jay. “I hope the hunting
up there is a lot better than
down here.”
Jay’s brother, Josh Leggett,
shared emotional comments
on behalf of the family. So
many people have reached
out to them and told them
how Jay made a difference in
their lives, he said: How he
brought out the best in them:
How to live; how to really live
rather than just get ahead. His
brother “pursued his dream
with every ounce he could
muster, every day,” Josh said.
Josh read something Jay
wrote while in Los Angeles
that looked at the value of
one’s life. “In the end, we
are who we are based on our
actions and character,” Jay
had said. It’s the tapestry one
weaves, not a single thread.
It’s patterns over time that
matter most. “Jay left a legacy
he’d be so very proud of,” Josh
stated
J a y ’s n e p h e w a n d
niece, who was a Godchild,
Jack and Miranda Leggett,
Oshkosh, wowed everyone
with a powerful rendition of
“Amazing Grace, My Chains
Are Gone,” while their mother,
Karla, accompanied them.
Fr. John Anderson, who
Top left: With Jay Leggett’s parents consoling each other in the lower left
and memorabilia from his life on the table, Fr. John Anderson, right, and
Deacon Darrell Smerz preside over a memorial Mass for him Saturday.
Above, Jay’s brother, Josh, and actor friend, Mitch Rouse, fight back tears
during the eulogy. Continuing clockwise, nephew and niece, Jack and
Miranda Leggett, sing as their mother, Karla, accompanies them. Upper
right, with his brother, Joe, and his father, Jack, at her side, Jay’s mother,
Judy Leggett, releases one of 50 doves. The number signified Jay’s age.
-Tomahawk Leader Photos by Kathy Tobin
officiated, made a reference
to the actor’s prayer card. In
it, his birth was referred to as
his “Debut.” His death, the
“Final Curtain Call.”
“I think there will be an
‘Encore,’” Fr. John stated.
Our parting thoughts:
“Here’s to that final hunt,
Jay Leggett.” As he said in
his song about the Newwood,
it “will always be calling me
home.”
A FEW PARTING THOUGHTS
“Jay was hysterically funny. He performed at my
installation banquet when I became president of the Wisconsin
Newspaper Association. with his Blue Velveeta improv troop.
Terrific humor, no foul language and not a hint of off-color
material. Everyone there loved it. Wish I could have known
him better. Will miss him regardless.”
-Larry Tobin, Publisher, Tomahawk Leader
“Jay enjoyed coming to sing with our choir at St. Mary’s,
when he came home for summer visits. Our congregation
appreciated his powerful voice very much, and yet he was
very modest when others complimented him. Despite
his success in the entertainment world, he seemed firmly
grounded in his hometown roots, and often spoke of how
much he appreciated everyone who had supported his
journey. He will be missed, and I hope his family will find
comfort in knowing that the world is better because of him.”
-Jan Huseby, Director of Music and Liturgy, St. Mary Church
Jay Leggett and friend/co-collaborator,
Mitch Rouse.
“Jay never forgot where he came from and he tried hard
to make the rest of the world see his hometown through his
own eyes. Good art entertains, teaches and inspires. Jay
Leggett made good art ...”
-Mark Gaedtke, musician, Leader columnist, author
Tomahawk Leader Year in Review,
among the top stories from 2004
Jay Leggett appears
on big screen
For Jay Leggett, a 1981 graduate of Tomahawk
High School, 2004 ended up to be the important year of
his professional life. “Without a Paddle,” a screenplay he
co-wrote with his best friend, Mitch Rouse, was purchased
by Paramount Pictures, shot in New Zealand and touted
such stars as Burt Reynolds, Matthew Lillard and Seth
Green. “Without a Paddle” was one of Paramount
Picture’s biggest movies all summer, bringing in more than
$13 million its debut weekend and nearly $60 million
during its theater showing. The film, which is about three
friends who set out on a camping trip in search of a lost
treasure, makes several references to Tomahawk and the
surrounding area.
Jay Leggett shared his Hollywood successes
with the town he loved so much. Far left,
his documentary, “To The Hunt,” focused
on one of his passions, deer hunting in the
Tomahawk area. A crowd of orange-clad
hunters and non-hunters alike enjoyed the
premiere at the Tomahawk Cinema. Upper,
the brainchild of the Tomahawk Leader,
this newspaper joined with the theater in
presenting well-wishes from Tomahawk,
written on canoe paddles, and presented
them to Jay at the local opening of “Without
A Paddle.” Below, Jay visits the Tomahawk
American Legion Hall and watches himself
as Gus in one of the episodes of “Factory.”
-Tomahawk Leader Photos by Kathy Tobin