Grieving Relatives and Colleagues Say O.C. Victim of Crash ‘Had It All’ : Eulogies: By all accounts, Jay Ganong was a success in his private life and his professional life.

John F. (Jay) Ganong, who died aboard flight 4184, spent about half his time on business trips but still found time to be a gourmet cook, an avid beach volleyball player and a devoted husband and father, his family and friends said Tuesday.

“He was a saint,” said Ganong’s mother, Marion Culpepper. “He was very successful in business, had great taste, dressed beautifully and was very good-looking. He always made quite an impression.

“Jay had it all and I’m just sick about this,” she said from her home in Palm Desert.

Ganong, 52, had boarded Flight 4184 in Indianapolis on his way to a trade show in Chicago.

He and his wife, Eileen, 43, had been married for 14 years and have a 12-year-old daughter, Meredith. He also has a 25-year-old daughter, Shannon Ganong, from a previous marriage, said neighbor Brooke Van Gilder, a close friend who was asked to speak on behalf of the family.

“He was a good family man,” Van Gilder said. “He was one of those men who took care of everything. He even turned all the clocks back an hour before he left on Thursday so his wife wouldn’t have to do it.”

Ganong traveled at least two weeks out of every month as national sales and marketing manager for Western Graphtec, an Irvine-based Japanese subsidiary that distributes graphics equipment, said Steve Krause, president of the company.

He was on his last scheduled business trip of the year and was due home at the end of this week.

“It’s a tremendous shock to everyone here,” Krause said. “They don’t come any better than Jay. He was a hard driver and was good at what he did. Everyone in the industry respected him.”

Ganong was responsible for distribution of cutter plotters, a machine used to cut letters for vinyl signs or clothing patterns. He traveled frequently to trade shows throughout the United States and Canada distributing the company’s products and had established a distribution network in South America, Krause said.

“Jay was on a roll,” Krause said. “His distribution network had doubled in the last two years. There’s not a lot of loyalty in this business, but he had a lot of loyalty earned through face-to-face contact. He also knew the names of all of his competitors. He had a memory like an elephant.”

At home, Ganong was an avid beach volleyball player who played in recreational leagues. He also played on the company softball team.

Culpepper said her son was born in San Francisco and grew up in Lexington, Va. He attended Washington Lee University before joining the Army.

“I traded a house in Virginia last year just so I could be closer to him,” Culpepper said. “He would come and cook for me. He had the patience of Job and a brain that went with it. He would just amaze me with all the things he could do and all the awards he would win.”

In addition to his cooking skills, Ganong was a wine connoisseur who entertained often with his wife.

“He was an impeccable host,” said neighbor Bonnue Mikoleit. “We would have block parties and neighborhood progressive dinners and he always cooked the main course. Something really special like rack of lamb or prime rib. You always knew their parties were going to be wonderful.”

Mikoleit said Ganong “was always there with a smile and a wave. He was real friendly. I would see him puttering around in his yard or washing his car when he wasn’t traveling to different countries. You could always hear them in the pool or having barbecues.

“We heard about the crash but you never think something so far away is going to touch your street. We all feel so sad for his family.”

Adilia Serrano, 79, who has lived across the street from Ganong for eight years, broke into tears.

“I feel terrible,” she said. “He was a very nice person. They are a very nice family.”

Van Gilder said Halloween was Ganong’s favorite occasion and that his wife had been disappointed that he would not be home to help her hand out candy this year.

Instead, the couple hosted a Halloween party the weekend before he left. Black and orange crepe paper from the party still hung on a staircase inside their home Tuesday, and a talking Halloween doormat remained outside the front door.

“He was really into decorating for Halloween,” Van Gilder said. “He loved handing out candy. Eileen couldn’t believe he wasn’t going to be home for Halloween.”

Several hours after the trick-or-treaters subsided Monday night, Eileen Ganong received a call from one of her husband’s co-workers, who told her about the crash.

“She had been waiting for Jay to call,” Van Gilder said. “When she got the other call, she immediately knew that it was true because Jay hadn’t called her yet. They were always in contact. She always knew where he was.”

Eileen Ganong last spoke to her husband while he was still in St. Louis and was about to attend a football game. She had often worried about the amount of time he spent in airplanes, Van Gilder said.

“It was always in the back of her mind,” she said. “But, she knew it was a part of his job.”

Funeral services for Ganong are pending. He also is survived by a brother, Stuart of Texas.