I was coming to Toronto for a flight to Edmonton this fall and thought I would stop to visit Jay since it was 15 years ago. Coincidentally I was going through some old files and there was a copy of Jay's email to me. He had traveled down to Rochester by bus for my wedding. The email I read from Jay so accurately described him. The message touched me profoundly. Jay talked about how grateful he was for the invitation, about how my son,my sisters and my Mother treated him with such respect, and love. They made his visit so special. Jay also expressed how open the Church was towards him and he was so welcomed. Two women priests and a male priest married my husband and I. Jay was an usher in our wedding and to get to Rochester by bus made his visit so special. Jay wrote ' I thought carefully about that meal( communion)I took of host and wine for the first time in years and knew that I was comfortable in the way it was offered to those of us who understood the goodness of the faith and could permit us to live the truth that was part of who made each of us who we were. It is all about giving and sharing and loving. It is what is supposed to make us human'. Wow! Jay I know in my heart you are at peace forever. When God made you my friend God made an amazing unique human full of goodness, life and purpose. You have touched my soul and so many others. Love, Patrick

We decorated the house a couple of days ago and of course I thought of my dear friend Jay especially as I unpacked the sparkly stars he made for me whenever (what maybe more than 30 years ago?). He had been doing a project at an old folks home (I think) and made the seasonal decorations with this group. He made extras to give to his own friends and they are hung at my place annually at this time of year. I wish all Jay's beloved friends and family a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2024.

Remembering Jay, especially today.

Thank goodness for reminders, I'm thinking. 
Being reminded of the second anniversary of Jay's departure reminds me that all of us have families and many among us have likely been dealing with trouble and sadness in their lives. I've attached a link to an optimistic song I wrote and recently recorded (not about Jay) sung by my daughter Hana - in case you'd care to listen. Wishing strength, light and hope to all.

Mike

Happy heavenly Birthday Jay. I am still in shock that you have passed away.
I feel you should be here enjoying life, you had the best spirit and made art class my heaven class...something I forever enjoyed attending because you were there as my teacher and my friend. xo

March 7 ... perhaps like many others I tend to better remember some numbers and dates from my past better than anything current. I still know the old Dampf phone number, my social insurance number and the birthdays from olden times better than things current. I've lately taken to jotting down my neighbors' names and the names of their kids in my phone as a memory aid so I can 'amaze' the youngsters with my 'remarkable' recall.(Harsh to admit, but true!)
Today is Jay's birthday. I wish I could say I woke up remembering this but truth be told Forever Missed reminded me first ... I would have gotten there eventually!
Time can be both a problem and a salve. For me time has softened some rough edges and given the space to better appreciate and gain perspective on many things.
I hope you all find time and space to make the most out of what you have in life.

Warmly, Mike

My wife and I visited with Jay in Toronto one summer several years ago at his request.  During our stay we purchased tickets to go see the Boston Red Sox play the Toronto Blue Jays.  While at the game in the third inning Jay said, “this is my very first professional baseball game I’ve ever attended..”.  We thought he was kidding since it was the same stadium that he painted a piece for the pro football team.  “Nope” he said never been.  Not to football, soccer or hockey game and all the stadiums were less than a couple of miles from his home base.  Yet he took us to several of his favorite art galleries.  When Toronto took the lead in the 7th inning he said rather proudly, “..that’s my team, winning and we are ahead, right?”

The next night we did dinner in the Sky Tower restaurant and asked Jay if he wanted to go with us to the game that night.  He replied, “No, I have been once, that has to be enough”.

Loved Jay and his honesty.  Dearly missed by Dana and Eileen Green, Bucksport Main

In the mid-1990's, my parents and I were visiting New Brunswick from Halifax. I was very young, and so when I told my mother I "wanted that painting" that we saw at the Sunbury Shores gallery, being 10 years old I wasn't taken very seriously, but I never forgot the images of his Fantasy Landscapes and African Safari Watercolors.

When I moved to Toronto in 2008, my mom said, "We'd like to get you a piece of artwork for your walls!" and I immediately said, "I want that painting from St. Andrews!". Mom was like, "That was almost 20 years ago....do you even know the artist's name!?" And I said, "His name was Jay!" but ....I knew very little else. I called up Sunbury and described the art they filled me in on Jay's last name! But...alas, I couldn't find anything available for sale from him, and google images only showed a few murals he had painted in Toronto, so I gave up.

A year or two later, I was attending a party at a local bar, and I saw a man painting a mural in a very familiar style. Shocked and delighted, I went up and asked him, "Are you Jay Dampf who does fantasy landscapes and African watercolors!?" He seemed a bit confused, but gave me his card and asked me to call him the next day, which I did.

I told him about seeing his art nearly twenty years ago at Sunbury Shores, and he asked me to describe my favourite painting from that collection, which I did. His voice got sort of quiet on the phone and he said, "Are you serious?" and I said, "Of course! It's been burned in my memory for years!" So....he invited me to his apartment in Toronto a week or so later, and low and behold, hanging over his couch, was my very favourite painting from that collection I'd seen! I bought it on the spot, he told me maybe I was destined to have it!

I stare at it every day, it's such an escape from reality!!! A window to another fantastic world, full of color and vibrant life! Everyone who comes to my apartment raves about this painting, it stands out from everything else and is such a unique piece!

Jay was such a kind, and wonderful person, and so creative and talented! A huge loss to the artistic world, but one that will live on in our hearts! Thank you Jay for everything, and for inspiring a little girl in St. Andrews to become an art collector!

Dear Jay:

  I'm am so sorry that it's been so long, and I feel guilty for not contacting you sooner.  Remember when Mom and I first started at Cedar Ridge...and the next year I had to bring my son.  He is now 32.   I learned so much from you.  It was fun, and I loved every minute of it.   And remember Mom sometimes helped you...lol.
Mom would tell me she had talked to you, or had seen you, and then she started teaching their.
I remember the giraffe mating.  I didn't know they did that.  Do you still have it?
I still have the cardinal that I copied...lol...but in reverse.  Never did finish it.  It seemed their was no time, when you are busy with a family.  
I found several Christmas cards, and I new I had to try to contact you.  With this covid thing, I had trouble contacting Cedar Ridge.
  But now it's to late, and I'm so sorry...and all I wanted to do is catch up with things, and tell you that my Mother passed, but I guess you know that now.
  So we are all hurting,
To his family, I'm so sorry for your loss.  Jay was a great man.

And his will be missed dearly
Karen Green-Leroux
(Edna Green) 1929-2020

Jay was a wealth of Wildlife Knowledge.  As kids he taught us all of the Groups of species and I remember his favorite was a "Murder" of Ravens.  He taught his sister and I how to rub a Bull Frogs stomach and make it sing.  Most of my favorite adventures with Jay were at the Toronto Zoo where he would interact with many of the animals.  He would throw Snowballs to the Seals, Dandillions to the Baboons, and would lure the Marmosettes to the front of the cage with shiney objects.  Jay had us always wear green on Zoo days to imitate the Zookeepers clothing.  This really worked.  We had all the Animals attentions.  He liked fish as well and we would have to often search for his Newt in the house before it dried up.

I always loved Jay's Wildlife Art.  As a kid I remember much of Jay's art hanging on the Dampf Household walls.  Surprisingly to me, sometimes they would just disappear as Jay couldn't afford new canvases and would reuse them.  The Dampf house boasted handmade wallpaper in the basement and Jay and Rosy even made hand painted wrapping paper.  I was always in awe of Jay.

Jay and his sister Rosanne had wonderful imaginations.  Every trip with both of them was not an outing but an Adventure.  The both of them would make mazes in the basement so when I entered cushions would rain down on my head.  All of the Dampf's helped to make my childhood wonderful.

Sending heartfelt condolences to all the Dampf's, with a hug and a tear.

OMG... I heard the devastatingly sad news this morning about Jay! 
As an adult, I had not taken any art lessons. Choosing Bloor & Yonge as a convenient location (8 minute subway ride), I ended up with Jay as my art instructor, 3 years ago. What a delightful surprise!
I remain grateful for the 2 hours, once every Monday,  of wonderful guidance from Jay. It was truly life-changing and eye-opening to sit at this ‘tip of the iceberg’ and watch Jay direct us all to calmer waters & deeper understanding of acrylic painting techniques.  It felt like contortions to sign up for the Seniors Sunshine Centre (in the united church) as it was geared to seniors but up to 4 non-seniors were allowed in. That was me. So fortunate to be the ‘token’ non-senior, to have Jay circling around the room with his dry comments. It was delightful to hear him laughing out loud when any of us moaned that we ‘were suffering for our art’. 
Jay will be sorely missed by all his students. We were all waiting for the pandemic to pass so that we could see him again. As students, we wer all stricken to hear of his medical issues on the east coast and subsequent operations back in Toronto. I can only hope that Jay did not become a Covid statistic. 

Being close in age, Jay and I were often thrown together as kids and expected to entertain ourselves. We had unfettered access to an idiot box from about 6-10am Saturday mornings, but apart from those glorious moments, we were otherwise expected to play in the basement or outside and basically show up for meals.

It meant that we shared both a close group of neighbour friends as well as a special childhood bond. We were 'comrades in arms' against older siblings (who were too similar to parents) and, with the extra parent-free moments gained from having a younger autistic brother, we were able to extend our childhoods far beyond what's probably normal.

Jay and I had childhoods spent most days in each other's company. I reaped endless hours of fun from his rich ability to create imaginative games. The half hour walk to St Bonnies grade school along the railway tracks became hunting expeditions or we'd take the long way through neighbourhood streets picking everyone's front-yard flowers and have bouquet competitions before dumping them outside the gates. We'd created other 'worlds' with secret signals to indicate that one or other of us 'was entering that space' (and the other of course had to follow). We'd try and continue these games once we'd arrive at school, leaving notes for each other or, in one failed attempt to remain in contact, by each holding the end of a string regardless that our classes were 3 floors apart. As adults we often reminisced about our games – aware of the privilege a secure childhood rich in free time outdoors brings with it.

Most of our games were either animal focused or design related. I particularly loved the hours (if not days) of building either toboggan runs, forts, igloos or civilisations (Patti and Karen do you remember "The Sun Gods"?). Jay loved the animal adventures. One of my favourites was our slow patient building up over weeks of a large gardener snake nest in the wood pile. Then, when we were home alone one hot summer day bringing them all inside for a refreshing bath.The inevitable escape from the bathroom and lack of round-up afterwards causing an unfortunate backlash for some time (dead crusty snakes were found under furniture for years afterwards).

Jay had a Toronto Zoo membership. In our teens and early twenties even we'd go on the days when the weather was at its very worst in the hopes we'd be the only visitors. I've treasured memories of snowstorms, rekindled childhoods and warm humid zoo pavilions eating McDonalds cherry pies with my pal. 

I just want to say to the Dampf family
how truly sad this news is about Jay.
i lived on langbourne Place along with the
Dampfs, everyone knew everyone and even our parents knew each other, Don Mills was a special place to live back in day. We all played together each and everyday, those where care free days, nothing to worry about,the only thing 
is that we always ended up playing at the Dampfs house. Jay had a great way to make up games to play haunted house in Karen’s garage we where frozen statues, playing in the fresh cut grass making animal houses, and going to the big hill in the winter, anddi t forget the haunted house in the summer at Norman Ingram School gym, Peter Pan at the foster house jay was Captain Hook, and he looked the part, he was the director of the play.
Jay will be sadly missed I’m so sorry we feel out of touch. Your flying with the Angels

The 'barking like a dog' line in Jay's bio reminds me of just how deeply he explored animals in his very young imagination. I swear there were whole weeks where every time you'd notice him he'd be somewhere in the house crouching like a cat and licking the backs of his 'paws' or barking at the doorbell or imitating the leap of a gazelle over the ottoman. While the others were rumbling around in the forest across the river from the cottage pushing down trees that were ready to fall (just for the excitement of the crash) Jay would be pretending to be a deer and peaking out from behind some tree trunk at us in alarm.He imitated the mating calls of gnus, wildebeast and elephants fairly frequently, as I recall, at the dinner table. I don't remember how long these expressions of his inner animal went on for but, looking back, it was clear that he watched the televised nature shows of the time  (i.e. Jim risking life and limb during Mutual of Omaha's WILD KINGDOM" with Marlin safely perched in a helicopter above) with an entirely different set of eyes and sensibilities than the rest of us. I could always ask him  'What bird is making that call" and he'd always know the answer.

The animal boy had his own animals too - fish, lizards (and crickets to feed them) a parrot for a while ('the nightmare' as he described it.) For 25 cents the neighbourhood kids could watch his praying mantis 'battle it out' in a little cardboard box theatre he built in the backyard (complete with curtains.)  There were always animals in his art and life but he found his best animal experience, it seems to me,  in his pug 'Edna'. Edna, with her spaghetti thick legs, bulging bullfrog eyes, abhorrence of exercise  and 'pot roast' profile was his good friend for a number of years. She almost drowned once trying to 'rescue' him while we were waist deep in Georgian Bay. Those puny legs were windmilling but she sank like a stone. We laughed about that for a long time!

I shared a bedroom with brother Jay from his second or third year until I left home in 1976 or so ... about 18 years I guess. We got under each other's skins ... regularly. He was the shy, sensitive, artistic one who knew just how to get me going. I was the 'jock' ish, weightlifting guitar playing oldest brother who was always teasing and taunting him. There were four years between us, in age. At some point in the late 60's or early 70's dad built us a really cool bedroom in the basement: it had monkey bars built into the ceiling, orange padded cabinets and psychedelic murals that dad painted (in those days dad wore his hair longer and had flowery, balloon sleeves and big fake gold necklaces ... he was just getting into painting himself.) I was at 'that' age, grade 10, girls, being so self centred and 'so' important.Things started building up between us. Everything he did bugged me and he wasn't letting up on quietly twisting the screw. It finally reached the point where something had to give ... and he gave it. He just wound up and punched me as hard as he could in the face. I was stunned. Moments later I said 'you really hit me'. He said 'you really deserved it!'
Things were much better after that.