Jay Russell Vaughn

Jay was a complicated man, who in the end went out on his terms, in his home on September 27, 2025. Jay Russell Vaughn was born to J. Russell Vaugh and Bertha Lillian Sine on April 12, 1937, at the Barnes Memorial Hospital in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania.

He graduated from the Susquehanna consolidated high school inn 1954, and San Diego evening college in 1972, with an associate’s degree in welding. Jay retired from the Navy after 22 ½ years of continuous service on December 1, 1976. He had served on the USS Enterprise, USS Paul Revere, and the USS Bainbridge. After retiring, he worked for the Eagle Foundry Company in Eagle Creek, Oregon, as a technical cell representative. He worked out of his home office, selling into territories including MT, WY, UT, and NV. He taught welding at Jordan Valley High School as well as Treasure Valley Community College. Once retired, he was a handyman (mostly welding and plumbing) and mowed lawns.

Jay and Vonda Marie Jensen were married June 26, 1959, in Idaho Falls at the LDS Church, second ward. They would later be sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple. Jay is survived by four living children: Daniel, Tracy, Paul, and Lynne. Murray, his oldest son, passed away May 8, 2025. He has 12 grandchildren and 20 great grandchildren.

Some of his fondest memories were the mission that he went on with Vonda to Wisconsin. They have even kept in contact and been friends with Tim and Kathy Engelbretson, who they met on that mission more than 30 years ago. Vonda and I actually traveled back to Wisconsin when I was a teen, to attend a 100th birthday party for a friend they were with on the mission. Jay loved to travel; he especially loved the Orient and was able to take my grandmother to Hong Kong when the children were still young. He and my mother, Lynne, were able to go back to Wisconsin several years ago. They also went back to see his home and traveled to San Antonio to see his favorite cousin, Sandy. The family moved from San Diego, California, to Caldwell in June of 1975, and have lived in the same home since.

Jay loved dogs and always had one (Labradors and Britney Spaniels). He spent most of his time fishing and hunting with his son, Paul, and the grandkids. He also loved birds so much that he had twelve birdhouses around his home so that he could see the birds. He loved his wood stove. You could count on him sitting by the wood stove, tending the fire that he would keep roaring all night and day. He also enjoyed doing genealogy and working at the LDS fruit ranch.

He worried constantly about the family, although he had alienated most of the family due to his old-fashioned beliefs; he still thought about them regularly. During the fall and winter, he was always bringing wood to my home to make sure his great granddaughter, my daughter, Marlee, was warm. He had once stated that Caldwell was the nicest place he had ever lived and that he enjoyed tending to his garden and making a home with Vonda. Jay was a family man – he took care of his mother-in-law until her death in April of 2010. He was by Vonda’s side until her death in January of 2018. He could always be counted on to help out in a pinch with anything the family needed. From a new stove or a water heather, whatever you needed, you could always count on Grandpa.