Jason Lamar Hale

Jason Lamar Hale was born 11/6/1987 in Hobbs, New Mexico and passed from this life on Monday, April 27th in Albuquerque, NM. He was 32 years old and passed peacefully in his sleep.  His is preceded in death by his mother, Virdie and his half sibling Brandon, paternal grandparents Robert and Doris Hale and maternal grandfather Charlie Jones. He is survived by his father, Kenneth Hale and wife Dawn of Albuquerque. His brothers Cody of Hobbs and Dustin and his wife Sherry of Albuquerque and half siblings Kelsey of Hobbs, Kristin Marie of Albuquerque.  He is also survived by his aunts Karen Cooper and husband Ray Baca of Albuquerque and Lorene and Doug Smithers of Clovis. 

Jason was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 4, in April, 1992.  He spent many summers in Socorro at Muscular Dystrophy camp which he greatly loved.  His Uncle Ray was a camp counselor for several years and he can attest to the fact that he was 100% all boy and was as rambunctious as one could imagine.  He attended school in both Albuquerque and Hobbs.  He was an avid sports fan and loved the LA Lakers and Kobe Bryant and the Oakland Raiders.  In 2000, he was granted a Make A Wish trip to meet Tim Brown and see an Oakland game with his brothers Cody and Dustin.  The Raiders invited them to eat dinner with the entire team and their families.  They also opened up their gift shop and let them have whatever they wanted and each boy received an autographed football of all the team players. A true highlight in his life.  In the summers Jason loved going to the Albuquerque Dukes games with his brothers as they let the boys in for free for every single game. 

Jason was a very happy boy growing up in spite of his challenges.  He was determined to walk as long as he could before getting a wheelchair to assist.  He was remarkable at how much ground he could cover in his neighborhood be that it was slow going but he made the most of it.  He grew into an extraordinary young man with a good attitude.  He always had a smile on his face when he saw you even though his days grew tougher over the years.  He was pretty quiet most of the time but was always paying attention.  He had a wonderful sense of humor and was quite classy with that skill.  He could really make you laugh and was always concerned about others around him and had a gift to make sure you were doing ok.  He had a very big heart and was selfless in his genuine concern.

Many thanks to his caregiver, Richard Ivey and his family of Hobbs who took care of him for many years.  Jason was able to live independently over that time and he was indeed grateful.  His biggest fear was having to live in a nursing home.  Because of your love and devotion to him Richard you gave him that freedom. Jason loved having the kids and all the animals around. Also thank you to the group of young men who were friends of his and formed a tight circle around him, Jacob, Big Mike, Jeremy and Manny.

After Jason experienced respiratory failure he was given exceptional care at Kindred Hospital in Albuquerque and by Corus Hospice upon his discharge and up until his death.  Jason was so grateful to Corus for him being able to stay in his apartment and received his care at home.  The Corus team, Jim, Candace, Marcos, Jeff, Natasha and especially Phillip, his RT,  were incredible.  You were more than caregivers you became family to him.  Also big thanks to Ramona and Joe who took care of him 24/7 over the last 6 months. Because of you he was able to spend time with Dustin watching football and sports and being able to talk endlessly about their childhood.  You took on a huge responsibility and made his last days so much easier and comfortable for him.  It was an enormous blessing to have Jason in our lives.  His courage, bravery and especially sweet demeanor is a reminder to all of us, no matter how hard things can get there is always something to be thankful for in this life.  We know Jason is up in heaven STILL thanking everyone like he did when he was here and saying how much he appreciated what everyone did for him.