Jake J Ogle was tragically killed on the evening of February 20, 2022 when his UTV rolled off one of the new trails he had been blazing at home on his ranch and vineyard. Jake, his wife Kristen, and their two children (daughter, Kathryn, age 4 and step-daughter, Lily, age 14) had moved to Solvang in 2020, having purchased a little slice of heaven where they made their forever home and created J+K Vineyard. 

Jake had a big barn to himself for all his welding projects and tinkering plus wide open spaces to be inspired by the beauty all around and plenty of work that required his two capable hands and green thumb. With grit and talent he turned a run-down vineyard and the vacant land next door into something special and was pouring himself into taking it even further, building a new future for himself and his family with his own hands. He was overjoyed to have his “sisters” (sister Hayley and her wife Rebecca) join in the harvesting of grapes in 2021. He was happiest when he could share his life’s work with those he loved and when he died he was the happiest he’d ever been.

Jake was raised in Yorba Linda, the youngest of five siblings. His mother, Ann Fritsch, birthed him at home at a whopping 10+ pounds. He was always known for his charm, wit, and sense of adventure. He also possessed a wild spirit, unbreakable determination (when it came to doing the things he wanted to do), and talent - talent for anything he truly pursued. Jake never met a construction trade or creative endeavor he couldn’t excel at and he quickly acquired any skill that required one’s hands and a big brain.  

He was so adept at learning new things from deep dives around the internet that he was inspired to start working on his own YouTube channel called What I Learned on the Internet, mostly about tips and tricks for building and fixing anything and everything. He was driven not only to share his experiences, learning and failures but to illuminate solutions. The GAPPSMOOgle (Great And Powerful Problem Solving Mind Of Ogle) was legendary.

He was a talented musician with an innate understanding of music and composition - a singer and a bass player. He also enjoyed playing piano at home and singing cheesy duets with Kristen. His voice was deep and resonant and his heart was always in every word he sang. He loved making music, especially with his best friend, James Slay. Their band Two Years Before the Mast was cinematic and cerebral. The Cap Gun Holdups were old-timey bluegrass mixed with some of the rowdiness Jake loved and a big dose of tenderness. He also took great pleasure in the one-off gigs of My Old Band with his dear friend Brandon Meyer (Bemis, as he called him) playing Concerts in the Dell.

He tried his hand at many things over the years from managing concerts to starting a leather jewelry line and was a truly talented photographer. He loved his wife’s family ranch and horse sanctuary in San Luis Obispo and took thousands of amazing photos of the horses that he intended to turn into a book to benefit Return To Freedom.

Jake began his time at The Brewery Lofts in the early 2000s as an artist and resident, then worked at Barbara’s as a bartender and pioneered brunch service there with his famous Bloody Marys and handmade beignets while continuing to do construction jobs with Brandon Meyer.  He became the Maintenance Supervisor for the Brewery Lofts in 2013, working alongside wife Kristen in that role for nearly five years. The two managed the property together like the proud parents of an incredible community of quirky kids. When the two decided to shift their focus to growing their own family, he poured himself into fatherhood, gardening, and photography.

Jake was an incredible father, warm yet firm (especially about making sure the kids were served a good breakfast) but always a goofball. He was an outside-the-box thinker and he always kept the kids on their toes with exciting adventures. Sunday mornings were always special because Jake would make perfect bacon, eggs to order, and pick up (or occasionally make) donuts. Lily and her friends always looked forward to Saturday night sleepovers for this reason in particular. The week before he died, he took Kathryn on a hunt around Los Angeles to find the best French fries and milkshakes. Chocolate peanut butter malts were always his favorite.

Jake was a special and exceptionally rare kind of man: a good man, loving husband, fantastic father, doting son, wonderful son-in-law, caring brother, and dear friend. He was not one thing but many - like a wine barrel that appears to have a single identity but is actually comprised of many unique staves, he was a lesson in both/and. He was both a maverick and a leader, both a protector of underdogs and a firebrand, both a doer and a thinker, both independent and devoted, both strong and vulnerable. His great superpower, though he had many (like being the best at crosswords and being the person you wanted to have around in any crisis), was that when he spoke people listened. His integrity and charisma were palpable and to be in his presence was to bear witness to something rare and beautiful. Everyone he met was better for having known him. There are no words to describe the void left by the loss of his bright light in this world but with each sunrise you can be certain he is still here as sunlight in the universe.

Jake is survived by his wife Kristen, step-daughter Lily, daughter Kathryn, mother Ann, aunt Victoria, brother Sean, sister Hayley and sister-in-law Rebecca, sister Melinda, brother Jeff and sister-in-law Lorin and their children Danny, Heidi, Tatum, and Parker Joe, and in-laws Steve and Leslie Carlson.

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