Obituary

--- for Inyo Register 11/25/10 ---

James Preston Tyerman passed away Friday, November 19 around noon. It was just 9 days after his 63rd birthday. He spent his last moments at home with family.

He was born in Oildale, near Bakersfield, California to Gene and Alice Tyerman. He was in the Navy, stationed in Hawaii, during the Vietnam war. He moved to Bishop as a young man and was married to D.D. Merrick in 1977. They had their daughter in 1983 and their son two years later. They proudly watched their children graduate from high school and college.

Jim spent some of his best moments outdoors riding his Harley he rebuilt, racing on sand dunes in his dune buggy he made, and tinkering in his garages - including the one at his old business - Tyerman’s Tire Center. He was a supporter of the local Destruction Derbies, competing for many years and always enjoying the challenge of prepping a derby car. Basically, Jim could build and fix anything with a steering wheel and tires. In fact, he was quite the jack-of-all-trades handyman that many people turned to for assistance and advice.

He was diagnosed with an aggressive tongue cancer in October 2009. Although chemotherapy and radiation treatments helped control some of the tumor, his condition declined rapidly. The family would like to thank Roberta and Anita at Hospice and the doctors and nurses at the Rural Health Clinic for their time and care. It was a painful struggle for all to see how cancer changes the vitality of a person - especially someone with so much gusto.

Friends and family will forever tell fond memories of Jimmy, aka “Toolman Tyerman.” His strength and spirit will live on in his wife, D.D. Tyerman; his children, Joshua and Jessica Tyerman; his siblings Linda & Ron Jernigan, Diana Hamlin, and Bob Smith; his father-in-law, Jim Merrick; and his nieces & nephews, Dion & Staci Harris, Kelliann & Arnie Palu, Jason Jernigan, and David & Kristy Harris.

The family plans to spread his ashes in the spring. An informal memorial service will be held at the Palu residence, 208 Grandview Drive, on Saturday, December 4 at 3:00 p.m.

MEMORIAL SERVICE

Our wonderful cousins, Kelliann and Arnie Palu, have offered their home for our dad's informal memorial potluck. Here's all of the details:

WHEN: Saturday, December 4 at 3:00 p.m.

WHERE: 208 Grandview Drive, Bishop, CA 93514 (behind Inyo County/Jill Kinmont Booth Community School) - it's the first house on the right next to a dead-end street

WHAT to bring: Memories, BYOB and it's potluck style so here's the breakdown:
Last names A-I = main dish
Last names J-Q = salad
Last names R-Z = dessert

WHO: All are welcome! Hope you can come! If you are not able to attend, please send a story for the Memory Book instead!

The End of a Battle, but the War Goes On…

James Preston Tyerman passed away yesterday, Friday November 19, around noon. It was just 9 days after his 63^rd birthday.

My dad always hated hospitals so it is wonderful he didn’t spend his last moments there. He was in the living room in his wheelchair. Josh, Mom, and Aunt Linda were all there.

Roberta from Hospice came over within 5 minutes of my mom’s call to check his vitals to make sure he had gone to a better place and help with preparations.

This past week was a progressive decline… Just five days before I was here and he was still walking, with assistance. Since then he became bedridden. Friday was a rough morning - he was very weak, refused oxygen, and just couldn’t seem to get warm enough.

I am so relieved he is not suffering in such great pain anymore. It is not a way to live. We are happy he was at home, although this was a struggle for the family too.

We plan to spread his ashes over the sand dunes when the weather is better – perhaps in April. We might have an informal memorial service sooner …details to come. I am still going to put together the aforementioned "memory book."

I can’t believe this all happened in only about a year. Cancer is a terrible disease that should be a “war” we are spending energy, time, & money on, instead of these other dishonorable, futile wars. The hardest thing to watch is how cancer sucks the vitality from a person, especially someone that had so much verve.

My father’s strength will live on in us and his spirit will not be forgotten…

Soliciting Story Submissions!

This is an "all call" to any interested people/parties! My dad's sisters, Linda and Diana, have given me the idea to create a memory book of stories for my dad. Kelliann reinforced this idea today when she shared a moment she had with my dad a short time ago. She was visiting and he wrote asking her if she was short on time, and since she wasn't, he asked her to tell him a story. Out of all the things in his world right now, I think this gives him the most pleasure - listening to stories of our lives and, as Diana and Linda were recalling, life experiences we've shared with him.

So, if you have any thoughts, ideas, or full-blown stories - happy, sad, funny, etc. - we'd love to have them sent here to make a book to read to him. Please email them to me at jessit3@gmail.com or if you'd prefer to write something by hand, you can drop them by the Bishop house or snail mail them to me at:
Jessica Tyerman
5750 W.Centinela Ave. Apt. 124
Los Angeles, CA 90045

We look forward to your "submissions"!

Birthday Beer

Well I made it to Bishop at 11:00 on Wednesday, November 10 to "celebrate" what was left of my dad's 63rd birthday. To my slight surprise, my dad was already "celebrating" - my mom was finishing pushing some of a Keystone through his g-tube! The fact that it was a Keystone was the most surprising part - I guess it's all that could be scrounged up around here nowadays!

The next day (Thursday), my dad made a hand motion symbolizing "drink" and so I jokingly asked him if that meant he wanted a beer. He nodded. I told him I would go get some for him. Not long thereafter, he slowly got up and started walking out the front door. I tried to put his shoes on but his feet are still too swollen so instead, some leaves stuck to socks - no biggie. This time I was truly surprised when he walked to my truck's passenger door. He really wanted to go get beer. So we went, and got Bud Light, of course!

Later, I didn't know better than to give him the whole can - because, well, why not? He used to drink 20+ and still walk & talk straight! I think this negatively affected his behavior (mixed with all of the meds, of course). We were hoping it would help him sleep but unfortunately, it didn't have the desired effect. We've all been having odd sleep hours to keep 24-hour watch on him. And with that, we've all had some interesting moments with dad, that's for sure.

In pondering all of this, I guess an addiction is an addiction, but for my father I think he had an affection, appreciation, and affinity for beer. As Homer did for "Duff", my dad did for Budweiser. I never really asked him what he derived from drinking besides the obvious, but the more I think about it the more significant I think it was to him - just as much as cars, tools, and Nascar. Not that I'm justifying drinking heavily - I just know it was more than the act of drinking to him - it was a tradition, a comfort, a calling.

Many thanks to all for the birthday cards, thoughts, radio announcement (Aunt Linda, Arnie), haircut (Cyndi), and well-wishes. :-)

More ER, Rural Health Clinic Visits

I'm writing to catch up on a few things...

Last Saturday, 10/30, my dad did a repeat pull-out of his trach tube, so there was a re-run of the previous Saturday. There was a different doctor, though, so a few of the NIH doctors are getting practice, I guess! Even more so because he did it again, hopefully for the last time, later in the week. After this time they secured it with a more permanent tie... We still can't figure out exactly why he keeps pulling it out, but the general delusion seems to explain most of the problems of late.

My father insisted on going to the ER today during the day when he was with my Aunt Linda. Luckily, communication between family happened and my mom met them at the Rural Health Clinic instead. Here they know him and can react on a more informed basis. Dr. Brown prescribed him an antibiotic because he had a fever and his chin infection has worsened.

My mother thinks, and now the doctors seem to agree, that the cancer has spread into his brain. I'm sure the many medicines, and changes in medication, don't help the situation either. This will only be speculation because we canceled his appointments for his next round of CAT and PET scans (they were supposed to be next week). He didn't feel up to the trip and it would really cause a lot of unnecessary stress on his mind and body.

Even though I'm being "docked" at work, I will be home for my dad's birthday, Wednesday November 10.