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Jim Gay during one of his final TV appearances several years ago, with Food Network's Paula Deen on "Paula's Favorite Dishes," teaching her how to cook a meal in an open flame fireplace. (Photo courtesy of William Gay / April 10, 2012) |
El Centro native James Franklin “Jim” Gay, a nationally recognized food historian who had appeared on Food Network, network televisions and countless publications, died last week at the age of 61.
Gay, a retired naval aviator who graduated from Central Union High in 1968, died April 2 in his home in Williamsburg, Va.
Services for Gay will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday in Bucktrout Funeral Home in Williamsburg and a remembrance will be at 5:30 p.m. for co-workers, family and friends in the garden on the grounds of the Governor’s Palace of Colonial Williamsburg.
Interment will be in June in Arlington National Cemetery, Washington, D.C.
Gay was a career naval aviator who, in a second career, became — as McClatchy Newspapers noted in 2008 — “one of the world’s foremost authorities on the historic chocolate in 18th century America.”
He was featured on the Food Network, ABC’s “Good Morning America,” the CBS “Early Show,” on PBS, and in magazines, Web sites and newspaper articles. Gay also presented lectures and training programs for several museums and universities and wrote chapters for “Chocolate, History, Culture and Heritage.”
Gay began his career at Colonial Williamsburg in 1993, shortly after his retirement from the Navy as a lieutenant commander. He joined the organization’s Historic Foodways in 1996 and was a regular in the kitchens of Williamsburg, creating 18th century dishes.
Williamsburg’s Department of Historic Foodways was created in 1983, with the purpose of researching and recreating the foods of the 18th century. The department operates daily in the Governor’s Palace kitchen and the Peyton Randolph kitchens in Colonial Williamsburg.
Gay began researching chocolate in 2000. During a visit to El Centro in 2001, he was able to obtain a metate (mealing stone) in nearby Algodones that became the foundational tool for the Williamsburg chocolate demonstration program. Chocolate-making became a regular Historic Foodways program in 2002.
The program also caught the attention of the Mars Candy Co., which now produces “American Heritage” chocolate bars that are sold at Williamsburg and in museums around the country.
Gay was born Aug. 25, 1950, in San Diego and moved to El Centro as a child. He attended El Centro schools and graduated from Central. He went to the University of Southern California on a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps scholarship and upon his graduation in 1972 with a Bachelor of Arts in History, he was commissioned as an ensign.
After completing Navy flight training, Gay became a naval flight officer and before his retirement had accrued 3,500 hours in naval aircraft, mostly in P3 Orion series, where he served as tactical officer. His specialty was antisubmarine warfare.
Gay later acquired an MBA from New Hampshire College and attended graduate education courses for Virginia teacher certification from George Mason University.
He is survived by his wife, Janice, of Williamsburg; daughter Andrea West (Lt. Col Scott West, USAF), of Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D.; four granddaughters Maddie, Abby, Kate and Emma of Grand Forks; mother Gloria Gay, El Centro; brother Bill (Susan) Gay, nephew John (Kitty) Gay, niece Kathy (Greg) Verwer all of El Centro. He was preceded in death by his father, Alex Gay, of El Centro.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations be made in his name to a church or charity of choice.
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