Jeremy Lee Hirons

This is the story of a man, who, if you were lucky enough to have known, know just how special he was.
(First part of this story is as told by his mother, Carol. The second part is by his wife, Jazelle.)

Part 1 - When we learned in December 1975 we were expecting our first child, we were told the due date was August 21st, 1976. We were told that first babies sometimes come late, and Jeremy proved that to be true. Every day after August 21st I expected to go into labor. Days passed, and clearly our baby was in no hurry to enter this world. Finally, after two days in labor, our beautiful Jeremy arrived September 5th, more than two weeks late, but nevertheless full of life and ready to spread joy in this world.

Jeremy was a happy baby, never crying. When we checked on him in the mornings we found him cooing and talking to his stuffed animals, showing his nature as happy, sweet and independent. Once Jeremy started crawling he was always into everything, exploring everything. One Christmas he crawled up to our decorated Christmas tree and tugged on a branch with a shiny red ornament when the tree started to topple. Luckily it was caught before burying Jeremy!

Our beautiful blue-eyed, yellow-haired Jeremy was a very active and independent toddler. He loved people and would have wandered off with any stranger. Though he was affectionate and very friendly, he didn't sit on anyone's lap for too long, not even for a good book. He crawled into lower cupboards with the pots and pans, and climbed kitchen drawers ending up on the countertop, trying to reach the cookie jar on top of the refrigerator. We learned quickly not to let him out of our sight for more than a few moments, or he'd be down the street on his Big Wheel yelling that he was going to the supermarket!

Jeremy, at two years old, wasn't one to sit for very long unless it was to put together a multi-pieced puzzle. We later learned that this was one of his many talents--solving puzzles and finding solutions to problems from fixing appliances to trouble-shooting tech and auto issues. He was always quick to help friends and family, saving us time and money. He knew how to source electronic parts from far-off places and restore animated ornaments and life-like Santas.

At eight years old Jeremy joined the Oregon City Swim Team and earned many ribbons from competing in local and state swim meets. He collected Garbage Pail Kids cards, Transformers and Star Wars figurines, and loved Spiderman and Batman. He was drawn to mythical creatures such as mermaids, gnomes, leprechauns and Bigfoot, and of course thriller and science fiction movies.

As a teenager he ran track, lettering his first year. Music was always important, and Jeremy always had a new favorite song to share with friends and family, Though his taste in music was eclectic, from listening to 80s and 90s, top 40 to trance and Celtic, he especially preferred the soul and R&B genre. His music collection was vast!

Jeremy was a natural storyteller, often embellishing many personal stories which ended up sounding much more interesting than the way we remembered them. He definitely had the Irish "gift of gab," quickly making friends with total strangers. Between his smile, openness, and loving nature all were instantly drawn to him. He was loved by so many!

Part 2 - Jeremy vacationed in Maui Hawaii in his 20s and decided that he would live there. There, he honed his talent and skills in craftsmanship and became a master wood finisher. He started a business, worked hard, and impressed clients with his meticulous work on their homes, specifically in Wailea. Many of his clients became closed friends. He owned a property in Haiku where he developed a passion for collecting and growing tropical plants such as heliconias, gingers, plumerias, and collected a variety of bamboos and exotic fruit trees. 

In 2009, his son, Dublin, was born. He was a devoted father and even when he was diagnosed with heart failure in 2012, he continued to be active in raising him.

I met Jeremy while on vacation in Maui in 2015. I was at a Starbucks and he commented on the color of my hair in the sun. He was charming and had many stories to tell about the island. He showed me the Road to Hana for our first date. Jeremy was one who can make conversations with just about anyone and always knew what to say. He has the natural ability to make people laugh and think with his humor, incredible wit, and intelligence. He can draw you in with his animated story-telling abilities. He was a true eclectic. He was so easy to fall in love with. 

We explored the island together and he taught me so many things about tropical plants - and often knew their scientific names…he was proud to be a self-proclaimed “super nerd". He also had affinity for colors! He loved colors - shiny, sparkly colors. He had the talent of mixing and matching colors and painted some of our furnitures, friend's guitars, and made art pieces with thermocromatic and photochromatic changing colors.

We had our son, Finn, in 2020, right around when the pandemic started which nudged us to move to Oregon to be near Jeremy’s family, and settled in Happy Valley. He enjoyed doing small projects in our home and also continued taking jobs in Maui, flying there once a year to work on his favorite clients’ homes. He also loved working on his classic - a 1948 Chevy Fleetmaster. If we were not attending Dublin’s football games on the weekends, we loved exploring Oregon, often going on long drives to the coast and lakes. He did not mind driving us at all, and he made it fun by cruising to his favorite music. We also enjoyed going to plant nurseries in the summer, because even though we were far away from tropical plants, he still loved any plants and was always eager to learn about what can be grown in our garden.

Jeremy was a giver, always helping others with projects, even through declining health. He fixed everything, never letting us worry about things that were broken because we knew he will eventually figure out how to make things work again. 

He was a devoted partner and father. He loved his boys so much, always imparting wisdom and teaching them life lessons. He had always put the kids and my needs first before his, and for that we are so grateful for his love and the memories he left us.

We miss him so much and we will always remember this beautiful man who made everyone’s world a bit better. He was and will always be our rock, our center, our hero. 

We love you forever, Jeremy.

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