PORT TOWNSEND – Knowing he was dying of ALS, metal artist Russell Jaqua spent the final months of his life preparing a gift for his local church.
His legacy: designs for a sign with a cross to go in front of the church, as well as railings, door hardware and an enclosed courtyard in back.
“He felt really strongly that there should be unifying motif that the church could apply wherever metal made sense,” said his wife, Willene Jaqua.
Known internationally for his metal work, Jaqua died in June at the age of 59 after a two-year struggle with ALS, or Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a neurological, degenerative disease that progressively weakens muscles and leads to death.
It is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, after the famous baseball player who died in 1941 of the disease.
Jaqua didn’t finish his gift.
But through the efforts of a high school senior and a local blacksmith, Willene Jaqua is seeing her husband’s legacy become a reality at the church he loved.
“Russell believed beauty is a spiritual thing,” Willene said.
“To bring those two things together – his artistic ability and his spiritual search – meant the world to him.”
