Jody, age 39, of Gold Bar, WA, passed on to our Lord, November 7, 2010, surrounded by family and friends after a courageous 2 year battle with cancer. He was born to Joe Jr. and Linda Blaschka, on January 5th, 1971 in Seattle, Washington. He was the big brother to Jason (36) and Melissa (33). He spent most of his childhood in Woodinville, Washington where he attended Northshore Schools and graduated from Inglemoor High School. After high school, Jody went into the Navy where he was a Fire Control Technician in the submarine service. Jody loved the Navy. He received an honorable medical discharge due to bone spurs which turned out be a precursor to his final battle with cancer.
He loved working on computers from his first TI-99 in 1983 to the last laptop he received. He made his career working with computers between sales and customer service. His last job was working on optimizing web sites for the automobile industry for Cobalt. He was the computer “go-to-guy” for many of his family and friends. During his illness, he worked on his AA degree in Business Management. He obtained it a month prior to his passing.
Jody was always happy with a smile on his face. When he was little, people called him “smiley”. As he grew older, he was known for his positive attitude, corny jokes, and his impersonations of fictitious characters. Everywhere he went, he would make friends with those he met and often went home with contact information. He loved kids and always made time for them. He was “Uncle Joe” to his many nieces and nephews and other kids who weren’t related. During family functions, Jody would often be off with the children, playing video games, sitting with them watching a movie, or on the floor playing.
Later in life, he married Tracy Bruhn (2007) and she brought him a great deal of happiness. She has three children, Donald (21), Maggie (16), and Char (15), that he considered to be his own. He took his role as a father very seriously and loved them all. He became a Grandfather to Wyatt in 2008. He was so excited and proud.
Jody is survived by his loving wife Tracy, children, Donald and girlfriend Rachel, Maggie, Char, and grandson Wyatt; his parents Joe Jr. and Linda Blaschka, brother Jason (nephew Cody and niece Elly) and sister Melissa (Brad) Steiner (nephew Jackson and niece Anna), Grandfathers Lloyd DeShiell and Joe Blaschka Sr; his parents-in-law Butch ”Cliff” and Cathy Bruhn, and lots of extended family.
Jody will be remembered for his gentleness, kindness, compassion, and patience and for a love he extended to his family and friends. We were blessed with a gift and he made a huge difference in our lives.
The families would like to thank Providence Hospice for their compassionate support to allow Jody to remain at home as long as possible.
Donations can be made in Jody’s name to Providence Hospice in Everett, www.providence.org, or to the Rein In Sarcoma Foundation, www.reininsarcoma.org.
Services will be held at St. Brendan Catholic Church in Bothell on November 20th at 11:00. Luncheon reception will follow.