Jared Sparks

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Jared W(istar). Sparks, 70, arborist and landscaper, of Erdenheim, died of a heart attack November 28. He was a graduate of William Penn Charter School and attended the University of Pennsylvania. Son of the late Hannah and George C. Sparks of Philadelphia and Bremen, Maine. Survived by sisters Susan Mcfarland of Pensacola, Florida, and Deborah Sparks of East Sound, Washington state, and nieces Amanda and Annie Sparks-Dempster, and Jennifer Postlewaite, and nephews Christopher and Nathan Mcfarland. Predeceasing Jared was his former wife, the late Martha Pilling of Chestnut Hill. Jared worked locally in the Chestnut Hill, PA, area, at Oxford, Maryland, and the Virgin Islands. Previously he was a Volkswagen mechanic at West German Motors, worked for his father’s company, the Sparks Corporation, transacting business in German in Germany, and was a journalist for several Philadelphia suburban newspapers, including the Chestnut Hill Local. Jared had many interests and significant knowledge in botany, astronomy, sailing, kayaking (certified instructor, Philadelphia Canoe Club), ornithology, languages (speaker of French, German, Spanish), literature, music (singer with Choral Society of Montgomery County, performing with them at the National Cathedral), the seafood industry, journalism, information technology, fishing (freshwater), and coastal life of the Northeast and central Atlantic states. He played on an ice hockey team at the Wissahickon Skating Club. Enhancing his bona fides as a Renaissance man were his generosity, kindness, and a sophisticated sense of humor, that he brought to bear with charm and sincerity. He was a congregant of the Upper Dublin Monthly Meeting. Jared’s natural history collection will be donated to the library of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. Contributions in his name should be sent to the Morris Arboretum, 100 Northwestern Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19118. A memorial gathering celebrated his life on December 7 in his apartment. Internment was private. Condolence messages may go to H. T. Armistead, 523 E. Durham St., Philadelphia, PA 19119, who will distribute them to family and friends. “I must down to the sea again to the vagrant gypsy life./ To the gull’s way and the whale’s way where the wind’s like a whetted knife;/ And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,/ And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick’s over.” – John Masefield

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