From the Daily Record Obits

Jay Byrnes bared his soul in every lyric and every note and every smile and every grimace and every movement on stage.

And I found myself looking up to this man very much.

MOUNT OLIVE TWP. -- Jason Michael Byrnes passed away on Sunday, March 4, 2007. He was 28.

He was born on Dec. 22, 1978, and was raised in Mt. Olive.

He was a 1997 graduate of Mt. Olive High School. He attended County College of Morris and studied two years at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, N.Y.

Mr. Byrnes was a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton R.C. Church in Flanders, where he played CYO basketball. While growing up in Mt. Olive, he played Little League baseball, Junior Marauders' Football, and he swam for Solar Rays Swim Team every summer. He was a member of the Mt. Olive Marauders High School Basketball team, the high school drama club, and was president of his senior class. In 1997, he played the lead role in the musical production of Tommy at Mt. Olive High School.

A gifted singer songwriter, music was his passion. He enjoyed playing in Philadelphia and New York City, as well as at local venues, but he most enjoyed playing his music for friends. Anyone who has heard him perform, either on the radio or in person, can be counted as part of the enormous group of people who surrounded him as friends. Mr. Byrnes' warmth, humor and charisma will always remain a part of his family and friends lives.

Survivors include his beloved mother, Christine, with whom he lived; his beloved father, Michael of Succasunna; his cherished sister and brother-in-law, Jacqueline and Andrew Poirier of Netcong; his aunts and uncles, Carol Byrnes of Nokomis, Fla., Nancy and Eugene O'Neil of Smithville, Tenn., who were his godparents, and Mary Gerolyn and Kenneth Leonhardt of Rougemont, N.C.; his great-aunt and uncle, Joanne and Robert Ballengee of Armonk, N.Y.; and many dearly loved cousins, all of whom will miss his laughter and lasting smile.

Viewing will be on Thursday, March 8, from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. at William J. Leber Funeral Home, 15 Furnace Rd., corner of Route 206, Chester. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday, March 9, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton R.C. Church, 61 Main St., Flanders. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in his name to a charity of your choosing.