‘He was just Jay’: Tributes flow for Howlong man killed in crash
The mourning wife of a man tragically killed in a car crash near the Victoria-NSW border has remembered how her childhood sweetheart’s “can do” attitude and cheeky grin overwhelmed everyone he met as tributes continue to flow for the 23-year-old.
Albury Wodonga
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Jay Turner will be forever remembered for his “cheeky grin”.
The 23-year-old was tragically killed in a car accident on Thursday night when his car hit a tree on Howlong-Balldale Rd about 11.30pm.
His wife Hannah said her husband had a smile that could win anybody over.
“It’s that smile, he had a smile that could light up a whole room,” Hannah said.
“He got two jobs because of his smile.
“His first job, his apprenticeship, when he started his boss said ‘you’ve got the job but it’s only because of that smile’.”
The pair were high school sweethearts and met when they were 16.
“I had just moved schools and I remember I was going to my first class for the day and his head popped up,” Hannah said.
“Apparently at that moment he told Reece, his best man at the wedding, that one day he would marry me.
“I was seeing someone else at the time.
“It did take me a while but he has this cheeky grin and this attitude that just overwhelms you whenever you see him.
“He’s a ‘can do’ person and it didn’t take me long to realise.”
Jay and Hannah got married in August last year, and had just celebrated their first anniversary as a married couple.
Hannah said her husband was one of a kind.
“(He was) fun, outgoing, a bit of a pisswreck,” she said.
“There‘s just too many things. He had his smart arse ways that made everyone laugh.
“He was the life of the party.
“He was just Jay, that’s how anyone would explain.”
Jay worked as a diesel mechanic and was passionate about trucks, and his two best mates – kelpies Tex and Gus.
“His biggest hobbies were our dogs,” Hannah said.
“He loved Tex and Gus, they his sidekicks.”
Friends and family have shared their memories on Facebook, with Steve Jennings saying he would miss having a beer with his mate.
“You made the mullet trendy in (a) new millennium,” Mr Jennings wrote.
“Could not help but laugh whenever you were around, all ways had that cheeky smile on ya dial.
“Will miss the frothie or two we would share while the girls would be wheeling and dealing in horse crap.”
Maisie Donlen said Mr Turner would always be missed.
“Everybody’s best mate,” she wrote in a Facebook post.
“We’ll always love and remember you forever Jay. Always.”
Jay is survived by his wife Hannah, mother Rosie, brother Trent, and sister Courtney.
Hannah said Jay would be with his father Glen now, who also passed away in a car accident three years ago.
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