I am sad to report that a great 914 enthusiast and Porsche parts business owner Jay Mikesell died unexpectedly yesterday after a seemingly minor procedure Monday. Those who knew him appreciated his humor and willingness to help. Jay always seemed to be a little behind with everything but he supplied thousands of parts to Porsche people at great prices. The Part Werks business will continue with Jay's wife, Cathy taking over. With the passing of Doc and Cy's and Tweeks-Mid-America as Porsche parts suppliers, any orders you can send to Cathy (and Kevin) will help keep this seemingly vanishing breed going. There will be a celebration, as Jay wished, at the New Lenox IL. house on Saturday 7/1.
Jay was a friend of mine for over 25 years. I will miss him and he will be missed. Brad Mayeur

Though I know there's been some bashing of Jay over the years on this forum, he certainly was one of the few in the Midwest that kept the 914s going for many years. I also knew Jay and Cathy as friends, and he always tried to help me whenever he could.

His original parts supply was under the L tracks in a rather seedy looking area of Chicago, and then when he moved to the far burbs, I was relieved that he was out of the city. His parts warehouse in New Lennox was quite a sight, if you looked hard enough, you could find just about anything. Usually when I needed something, Jay would pass it along to me, and I would call him and dump off parts when my garage was getting too full. There was a kind of karma there, not just how much could you get for something today. I think we ended up even. Much as with Brad, Jay was a friend.

My best wishes to Cathy, and I just hope that Jay enjoyed his ride on this rock circling the sun.

George Rudawsky

Thats bad news...sorry to hear this. I have bought from Partwerks a few times with no problems so I never could relate to the bashing.....

Thank you for this posting. Was probably difficult. Did not know him, but I do appreciate how you value him and his obvious dedication to porsches.

Anyway...

Here's to Jay.

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I've ordered parts from Jay and always enjoyed his sense of humor. He was one of those guys that would shoot the shit with you for a few minutes on the phone even during the course of a hectic busy day. My thoughts and prayers go out to Jay, Cathy and his family & friends. Brad, thanks for posting this.

Sorry to hear about this. Our family thoughts and prayers go out to his family and to the 914 family of friends...

-- Rob

That is sad to hear. The number of enthusiasts willing to put up with the hassles in the business are few enough. I wish Cathy the best.

Wish we could all attend his celebration with our 914's. Maybe we could do a memorial run later in the year. Or maybe have several picnic's all over the U.S. We could take group photos from each remote location and have someone photo shop them together and send it to Cathy..... Anyone interested? Maybe use photos taken throughout the year, this year and send her something around Christmas.

Sounds like a good idea to me. We will have pictures here from the BBQ on August 5th. For info on the BBQ click on the link in my sig.

Same here Jeff. When I was just getting into 914's I ordered my rubber kits from Jay. He was extremely helpfull. Had a nice long conversation with him. You could tell he was truely passionate about these cars. Wish his family the best Brad.

Thanks for letting us know Brad. I know I used to buy from them in the past. I never had an issue.

Sorry to hear of his passing. I know they supplied many Porsche owners with parts.

B