Jay-D H. Ornsby-Adkins laid to rest

SUTTER CREEK — More than 600 people packed the Church of the Nazarene here today to say farewell to Pfc. Jay-D Ornsby-Adkins, the soldier from Ione who was slain April 28 in Salman Pak, Iraq.

The Rev. Mark Lehman said that Ornsby-Adkins maintained his spiritual life while he faced the all-too-physical realities of the war.

“I was told that Jay-D took his Bible to Iraq and his goal was to read the Bible through,” Lehman said. “I don’t know how far he got.”

Lehman and others at the service said that Ornsby-Adkins crammed a lot into his final months of life. He completed basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., on Dec. 8, the day before his 21st birthday. He married his high school sweetheart on Dec. 17. On March 9, he was deployed to Iraq as part of the 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, based at Fort Benning.

Ornsby-Adkins was one of three soldiers who died April 28 when first a roadside bomb and then small-arms fire struck their humvee.

Many of those who filled all available seats in Church of the Nazarene were from Ione, a small town of 900 residents where almost everyone seems to know the slain soldier by his first name.

Ornsby-Adkins, who was born in Australia, had lived in Amador County since age 5 when he and his mother immigrated here. His mother, Robyn Ornsby, runs Robyn’s nest, a beauty salon in downtown Ione.

From the Stockton Record

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