JAKE TRESSLER

Soldier, student was motivated by strong convictions

BY MARK ZABORNEY, BLADE STAFF WRITER

LIBERTY CENTER - Jake Tressler, an Ohio State University law student and a first lieutenant in the Ohio Army National Guard who grew up here, died of complications of leukemia Tuesday in the James Cancer Hospital at the Ohio State University Medical Center. He was 25.

He was diagnosed with leukemia in March, 1997, and attended school through winter quarter, 1998. "If he started something, he felt obligated to finish," his mother, Sally Roach, said. "He had very strong convictions."

He learned as much he could about the disease, Grant Douglass, a friend and former employer said.

"He attacked it like he attacked anything else," Mr. Douglass said. "He wasn't scared. He researched it. He tried to do anything a normal person would do and, on top of it, he happened to have leukemia."

Mr. Tressler was in his second year of law school. He received a bachelor's degree in criminology from OSU in 1994. "He really wanted to go into politics," his mother said. "He was a very honest young man. His belief system was that it should be fair for everyone, not just by the amount of money they made or their social status or color or religion."

He was a first lieutenant in the Ohio Army National Guard. He completed reserve officer training at OSU in 1994 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army.

"Jake loved very organized things. He liked the military life and the discipline," his mother said.

But even the military could not escape his sense of humor.

"He always made fun of anybody who took themselves too seriously or an institution that thought of itself too highly," Mr. Douglass said. "He made fun of the military at the same time he enjoyed it. If you got too full of yourself, he'd be the first one to tell you."

Born in Toledo, Mr. Tressler grew up in Liberty Center and was a 1990 graduate of Liberty Center High School.

He worked through high school and college. Mr. Douglass, who owns a construction firm, hired Mr. Tressler to sweep floors during the remodeling of a store.

"Within four weeks, we realized the job site was running smoothly. He just took over," Mr. Douglass said. "He did a fabulous job. He was remarkable young man."

He was an extremely intelligent individual who never let on that he was that smart. You could sit with him and, in the first 15 minutes, you wouldn't know how bright he was. He would hold that back. But if you got in a debate with him, he'd have your lunch."

He was a "great little computer nerd," his mother said. He had a power boat he restored, and he liked to water ski and target shoot in his free time.

"If you knew him, you were proud to be called his friend," she said. "He treated everyone with the utmost respect and dignity and he expected the same from them."

His father, Michael B. Tressler, died in the early 1990s.

Surviving are his mother, Sally Roach; brother, Michael, and sister, Michelle Tressler-Ames.

Visitation will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. today in the Rutherford-Corbin Mortuary, Worthington, O., and after 7 p.m. tomorrow in the Wright Mortuary, Liberty Center.

Graveside services will be at 4 p.m. Saturday in Young's Cemetery, Liberty Center.

The family requests tributes to the Leukemia Society of America, Central Ohio Chapter, Columbus.