Carl E. Jaks

January 10, 1929 - August 30, 2015

Carl Edward Jaks died peacefully, of natural causes, in Tallahassee at the home of his son and daughter-in-law on Sunday, August 30, 2015. He was born in Gonzales, Texas on January 10, 1929 to 2nd generation Czech immigrants. While a teenager, he developed a passion for airplanes and flying, which he carried with him the remainder of his life. He obtained his pilot's license while in high school, survived a crash with two fellow members of his class, and continued flying privately into his eighties, crisscrossing the country, Mexico, and Central America. In the mid-1970s, he constructed and flew a homebuilt aircraft from scratch, powered by a Volkswagen engine. He graduated early from high school and entered the Army Air Force in 1946, serving as a GCA Final Controller in Adak, Alaska, among other locations. Upon discharge from the Army, he attended Thunderbird College in Glendale, Arizona, then Berkeley, California. At Berkeley, he met Dorothy Marilyn Swetzer, daughter of walnut, almond and peach farmers in the Wheatland and Rio Oso areas of northern California. They were married on September 10, 1950 in Berkeley, and moved to Rio Oso to take up farming. He continued to farm for the next 50 years. He was a wizard at building things and most of the farm equipment he utilized he had constructed himself. After selling the family farm in the early 90s, he renovated a small house in Wheatland, California, and continued to live there until age 84, at which point he moved to Tallahassee to be closer to his son. He was predeceased by his parents, Anton and Filomena (Hanslik) Jaks, sister Idella Blahuta, son Otto Joseph Jaks and an infant son that died two days after birth. He is survived by sons Lowell Anton Jaks of Hornbrook, California, Peter Carl Jaks of Chico, California, Jacob Ruben Jaks (Donna) of Tallahassee, Florida, and Ruben Marshall Jaks (Roberta) of Olivehurst, California, and one daughter, Jennifer June Grimm (Phil) of Rogue River, Oregon, 16 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren. His ashes will be interred at Fairview Cemetery in Rio Oso, California. At his request, no services are planned.