If you know our dad Jeff “Hawaiian hillbilly”Tomlin, you would know how much of a cool and friendly guy he has been to anyone he meets. The stories he told us growing up that he was always doing something wild from skipping school, walking barefoot to school as a kid because in Hawaii, to being a teenager with a hot rod and burning rubber. You know him as the kick ass guy everyone liked. He wouldn’t be afraid to say something if it was on his mind. He’s not afraid to crack a joke whenever he is around or bring donuts to a staff that ever helped or took care of him.

This man had no fear. As a young parent himself he took on 3 kids by himself. You could say he had his hands full at all times with us, painting and working on cars at an auto body shop in California while we were little kids, moving to Colorado, Illinois and Arizona to better our lives. Starting his windshield business “Tomlin and son”, helping our grandparents at their donut shop at night, going to trucking school and becoming the best truck driver for a decade. He took on everything life handed to him with a smile on his face and showed us never to give up.

He let everyone into his home when they needed and made sure everyone he was around was taken care of. He always helped on cars, if it was fixing a tire, putting in a stereo or a broken part, you could always count on him with his tools in his hand ready for any obstacle came his way. This man went above and beyond to make sure his cars were the loudest and meanest looking ones anyone has ever seen.

He has his tough and cool guy look but he always had a soft side especially when it came to his granddaughters, Kaci and Ella. You would see him with a crown on and a tea cup in his hand or playing Barbie’s when they asked him to. You can tell just when he is around them or looking at them that he would do anything for them. He loves those little girls more than anything. He will be missing out on watching them grow up and showing them extra grandpa love. He will also be missing out on how his son, Justin, who he has always been proud of him as a person, son, father, uncle and brother he has been and will become. His daughters, Jada, who has accomplished so much and will be getting her first house that he will not get to see and her future she has worked so hard for and all the amazing adventures and accomplishments she will get. His other daughter, Jenny, who he always checked in on and made sure he knew how much he loved her and watched grow into the sister, mother and child he loved and cared for. His mother, Audrey Burroughs, and sisters Allison and Jan and brother Robby will also have to say goodbye and overcome the adjustment of their lives and accomplishments without being able to call or see him when they want to talk to him because they miss him.

In August 2022 he became very sick and went to the ER for how bad he felt.

At the time our lives were changed forever..we were told our dad has Stage 4 lung cancer..the doctor said he would have 2-3 months left. He was on clinical pills for a little, as well as chemo and radiation. He has his good days and bad days, he slept a lot to avoid the pain, he slowly stopped eating and in less than a few months he lost over 100lbs. On Feb 18th 2023 we saw a dramatic change in him we had to help him shower and walk back to his bedroom. On Feb 19th 2023 he went to the ER because he couldn’t even sit up or walk. That night in the ER our lives stopped and once again turned upside down. We were told from CT scans that were compared from his September 2022 scans to now his cancer from his chest down has became so extensive that we need to spend as much time as we can. He was transferred to a hospital a day later and they began more tests, the cancer from his lungs and chest are surrounding his blood vessel in his heart, tumors our now in his right leg, and many lesions and tumors formed in his skull and going into his brain. On Feb 24th, he was talked to by the oncologist here and told his fight is over..with how much it has spread and the option we have left will only make him more comfortable during his time he has left. We were told our new goal is hospice however with his mother being 82 years old and just losing her husband last month for her to have to administrate everything hospice gives us would be too much and impossible for her to do. His son is only here for 2 weeks as he is deployed over seas and was okayed for the emergency, my sister and I are unable to quit work to give him the 24/7 attention he needs. Our last option would be a long term care facility where he can get his pain medications, iv’s and the attention he needs for him to be comfortable and cared for properly.

Anything will help as we focus on the time we have with our father and not have to worry about our jobs, bills and how we lay him to rest.