Jay Bass

Obituary for Dr. Jay Bass

Jay Jacquelyn Bass (formerly Jacquelyn Draeb) died at the age of 98 in Broomfield, Colorado on March 20, 2022. She was born in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin where her father, John J. Draeb owned a jewelry store for many years. She earned a B.S. degree at Lawrence College, graduating Cum Laude in 1946 and attended the University of New Mexico the following year where she met and married James Bass of Albuquerque, New Mexico.  

During their marriage they made their home in several cities where Jay sang in choral groups and was active in League of Women Voters. Among her happiest times were their annual family camping trips in the Pecos Mountains of New Mexico with their two children and family dog, Pecos. She was an active sailor, participating in sailboat races with her husband at the Ninnescah Yacht Club in Kansas.

Dr. Bass was awarded a M.A. and a Ph.D in Sociology at Michigan State University in 1977 where she was a Graduate Assistant and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Society. She then served on the faculty of Kansas Newman College in Wichita, Kansas until 1983 when she took a position at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma (USAO) in Chickasha, Oklahoma. During her 20 years as a Sociology professor, she published research papers, gave presentations for local groups and professional meetings, designed several innovative courses and taught off-campus college courses.

Jay retired from USAO as Professor Emerita in 1997 and moved to Oklahoma City.  There she enjoyed Philharmonic concerts, swimming and volunteering as a Traveler’s Aid at the airport and in the Oklahoma City Orchestra League. As an OCOL member, she took great pleasure in writing articles about the musicians for their publication, the OPUS.  Her foreign travels included an adventure cruise in Asia, a voyage on the tall ship Sea Cloud II in northern Europe and an educational cruise down the Volga River in Russia with her daughter.

Achievements Jay was most proud of were founding a chapter of the League of Women Voters in Sturgeon Bay in 1952, which remains active today as the Door County LWV; designing and overseeing the construction of her own home in Oklahoma City in 2003, having her doctoral dissertation among the library holdings of the London School of Economics; and, at 74, solo sailing a Laser (racing sailboat) across Lake Hefner and back.

Jay is survived by her children, Jocelyn Bass of Thornton, Colorado and Brian Bass of Narberth, Pennsylvania.  She was preceded in death by her former husband, James Bass in 2012. In Memoriam, Broomfield is arranging for her cremation.  Her family would be grateful for contributions in memory of Jay to First Unitarian Church, 600 NW 13th, Oklahoma City, OK  73103.