Jimmy Gentry has lost his fight with cancer

aww man this is sad.Thanks for posting Janet,we prob wouldnt have known.

RIP brother,thanks for sharing your gift.

Cian

God bless your family my friend.  You will be missed, but I hope to see you again some day. 

I wrote and recorded this song for him a couple months ago, but don't want to post it until my voice gets better.  He did listen to it, but I haven't talked to him since.  I'm sad now that I didn't call him. 

God Bless You, Jimmy
 
Every now and then
you meet a special friend
one who makes you more than you could be alone
one who sees you differently than you see yourself
he looks out for you, as if you were his own
 
God bless you, Jimmy you’re such a special friend
always kind and giving, good to the end
God bless you, Jimmy for goin’ the second mile
Somehow you always make me smile.   
 
And every now and then, we stumble and fall,
something bigger than ourselves washes over us,
When the pain comes in waves and we don’t know what to do,
It’s good to know in God we can trust.
 
And now a tough time’s come, but your friends still love you
if we could, we’d take the pain away
we hate to see you hurting we wanna be there for you
so for now, we’ll remember to pray
 
God bless you, Jimmy you’re such a special friend
always kind and giving, good to the end
God bless you, Jimmy, for goin’ the second mile
we pray that God will give you back your smile
God please give Jimmy back his smile
 

Yes, I thought about that, Reece.  He DOES have his smile back now...and no pain.  I wish it could have been here, but I believe he's happier now anyway. 

I just got off the phone with Jimmy's sister.  Obviously she is heartbroken.

I offered to continue/reinvigorate the donations to help pay for his services, but she said that they have enough provisions for that, and that she would request that any donations be sent to a cancer service charity in Jimmy's name instead.  She will be sending me the details on where to send donations in Jimmy's name in the near future.  obviously she's a little busy right now.

please keep her in your prayers, she is in need of them as are her 4 surviving brothers.

so sad. Jimmy was a kind and gentle man.

Very sad. Enjoyed his music and input. RIP Jimmy.

RIP Jimmy.

That's very sad news.  Maybe God needed a great guitar player/singer.  Our prayers are with his family.

God bless you, Jimmy. You were truly a wonderful, kindhearted, very talented person.  Rest in peace, my friend.

Bob

This is heartbreaking and I'm fighting back tears. But Jimmy had a great soul, and I'm sure he's in better hands now. I feel honored to have known him and created music together with him.

Fantastic words, Janet. I'm sure they made Jimmy smile.

Go hug someone today and tell them you love them - life's too short.

Yes, she said that on his last day he was getting treatment and trying to tell them something but didn't have the strength in his lungs to say what he was trying to say but she thinks it might have been him trying to tell them something was wrong - maybe a stroke or heart attack.  but since they couldn't tell what he was saying they didn't do anything at that time and he died shortly after.

I've had my fingers on this keyboard a couple of times this morning since I saw the news. Words escaped me each time. Still not sure what can be said to really make myself feel better. As some of you know, with Janet's help I tried to help Jimmy by making some arrangements and offering to help financially in addition to the donations some of us made through Reece's kind efforts in setting up a way to get him some money to help him. The communications I had with Janet about what she was hearing from Jimmy didn't give me the feeling that things were going to turn out good for him, but he seemed to have a hopeful attitude. He spoke of getting back home, and playing in a band. He said he wanted to take me up on my offer after his treatments if I was willing. I always was.

My feelings about Jimmy are that he was a gentle, simple Southern soul. A very talented musician and songwriter. And a much better recordist and mixer than he gave himself credit for. Especially considering his modest gear. His songs had a soulful honesty that never failed to reach me, with heartfelt lyrics and just the right notes played beautifully on guitar. His generous comments on others music was always honest and, while not always easy to read, helpful. I've missed reading his posts for the last 6 months or so, and always will now.

Thanks to Janet for her help in trying to help Jimmy, and to Reece for facilitating the funds we raised for him. You guys are 2 of the good ones.

After writing this, I still feel a sadness that Jimmy didn't get the help he needed, and that he kind of fell through the cracks because of his lot it life. It shouldn't have happened, but it does. Damn shame that.

Randy

All,
feel free to express condolences to his family here as well.  I have pointed Tonia (his sister) to this thread and she will be reading your thoughts and sympathies.

Larry, I totally agree.yeah Jimmy always went the extra mile and was never afraid to bare his soul in so doing when listening and critiquing.
Randy, I think you really summarized the situation well.

Jimmy was incredibly talented and at the same time incredibly humble. He was one of the few people on this forum who probably spent as much time listening to some of my tunes as I did, which was very humbling for me.

We shared a lot of insight into each others music which grew to be more than just musical conversation. His music was more than just an analogy of his life and experiences. They were deeply thought out which was very comforting to him. He was always searching deeper for his truth in understanding of who he was. This is evident in the numerous ways he would describe how he heard things in our music. He would relate his thoughts in this same manner and it wasn't always easy to understand where he was coming from and he would have to rephrase what he was saying. He was also one who wouldn't stop after just one listen but would go back many times to re-listen and comment.

He helped me get through a really hard time in my life after my dad had passed away and I had lost my job. I believe he sincerely cared about me, and would occasionally send me an email to see if I was still o.k. At one point he was so inspired by my work ( and I still am not sure why?) and took the time to write a song that he dedicated to me because of our short friendship.  That's the kind of guy Jimmy was. I know he cared the same for so many others on this forum as well.

Tonia, if you are reading this my thoughts and prayers go out to you and your family.

Jimmy was a gentle soul, and a true southern gentleman... my heart is heavy...