Harold James Shortleeve Jr.

Harold James Shortsleeve Jr, age 72, born in Rutland, Vermont passed away on May 29, 2024 after his five-year battle with cancer. 

Jay, as he was fondly known, was born on May 18, 1952 to his parents Harold James Shortsleeve Sr and Patricia Royce in Rutland, Vermont. He was one of three children, the late Linda and Lori (Jim) McKeon. He is survived by his wife Pilar, his two sons Patxi (Kelsie) and Andoni (Stephanie) along with a beautiful granddaughter.

Having completed college, he began teaching skiing at Killington Ski resort. Jay was drawn to Utah to ski the Greatest Snow on Earth. He found a home at Snowbird Ski Resort Mountain School where he continued his career as a ski instructor and worked until he retired after 40 plus years. He was member of the Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) and was a member of the PSIA Intermountain West Synchronized Ski Team.

He married Pilar Sangroniz on May 9, 1987. They enjoyed a wonderful life together filled with a loving family and more friends than anyone could count. They had two sons, Patxi and Andoni, to whom they showed tremendous amounts of love. Jay shared with them his sense of humor and ability to laugh at even the smallest of things.

Jay was a kind, generous, and loving man, whose sense of humor was unmatched finding humor in any situation. He could fix just about anything with his years of carpentry experience and was someone you could come to if you needed help. We will always remember his “Jay Shortcuts” that, although got us to where we were going, somehow seemed to take longer than normal. We were taking the ‘scenic’ route but, he always knew where he was going…. eventually. His favorite summer place was on a beach whether on a lake or at Cape Cod, where he spent every summer with his family growing up.

Jay’s fun-loving personality led to the creation of the family fart jar to keep “the boys” from ruining dinner. It worked so well that in the end the only person to ever put money into it was its creator. Jokes aside, Jay found tremendous joy and satisfaction in teaching others and watching their successes whether it be on the ski slopes or in coaching his son’s sports teams. Jay loved music, both listening to and playing it. He was the drummer in several bands as well as being the drummer for the Basque dance group. Being active was in his nature. He loved skiing, playing volleyball, camping, wind surfing, kayaking, and golfing. Jay also enjoyed reading military fiction, playing sudoku, completing crosswords, but most of all, cracking jokes.

We are grateful to Dr. Chalmers and her committed sarcoma team at the Huntsman Cancer Institute for all they do in the fight against an unrelenting foe – Cancer. Our heartfelt thanks to the kind and caring Community Nursing Services hospice team, especially Danielle and Kina.

A celebration of life will be held on June 8, 2024 at 11:00 am-2:00 pm in the Benvegnu Center at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic church, 1385 E Spring Lane Holladay, UT 84117. As Jay was a generous person in life, in lieu of flowers please make a donation to the Huntsman Cancer Institute.