Fillmore search-and-rescue team member Jef Dye remembered as 'angel among us'

The sheriff’s search-and-rescue volunteer killed this month while helping after a car crash was remembered Friday as a man who would literally give you the shirt off his back. 

Jef Dye, 50, of Thousand Oaks, spent 12- to 15-hour workdays fighting cyber crime and the rest of his time being there for his family and the friends he found in the Fillmore Mountain Search and Rescue Team he joined about two years ago.  

Hundreds of law enforcement officials from across Ventura County along with search-and-rescue crews from across the state honored Dye during a memorial service Friday at Calvary Community Church in Westlake Village.

Previous coverage: 

• Tight-knit search-and-rescue volunteers hit hard by loss of Ventura County’s Jef Dye
• Ventura County Sheriff’s Office identifies late search-and-rescue team member

Dye was killed Feb. 2 while helping at the site of a crash on Interstate 5. He and the rest of his volunteer crew were on their way to Mount Pinos for training in the snow. They stopped to help at the scene of a crash when another vehicle lost control and plowed into them, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office. 

Dye was pronounced dead at the scene. Three of his other team members were also injured, two of them seriously. 

On Friday, his friends, family and fellow search-and-rescue crew members recalled his humor, leadership and dedication to helping others. 

“Out of the box, Jef was the man,” said Anthony Rodriguez, who first met Dye when they were both in their probationary period with the team. They hadn’t become full-on members yet. 

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“I think he was born knowing how to tie knots,” he said. “He was our leader without question.”

Dye was the guy who read every manual and policy, Rodriguez said, and he was always available to help those on his team become better.  

He shared about a time the crew was training in the Sespe Creek. They were hungry and near some avocado orchards, and Rodriguez joked about taking some of them to snack on. 

They didn’t know Dye had started his professional career as an investigative assistant in the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office, Rodriguez said. 

“That’s a crime,” Rodriguez recalled Dye saying. 

Dye grew up on a seven-acre ranch outside Fillmore and graduated from Fillmore High School in 1986. He had an associate degree in criminology and a bachelor’s degree in computer science, according to his obituary. 

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This training set him up to focus on digital forensics and cyber crime. He worked at a few other companies after his stint in the DA’s Office, and most recently worked as the vice president of global information security at Bank of America. 

Along the way, he met his future wife, Sandy, who was his co-worker at General Dynamics. There, they’d argue a lot, said Jack Franklin, Dye’s brother-in-law. 

But that passion turned into love, with the pair getting married in 2011 after 10 years of dating. 

“They had a relationship we all admired,” Franklin said. 

In addition to his wife, he loved being part of a team with a mission to help search for lost hikers, the camaraderie he felt with those in the crew and the chance to serve the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office in any way needed. He also loved the gear, Franklin said. 

“It has been said that a man’s life is not measured by how long he lives but how well he lives. And, that said, Jef can be proud of the time he spent here on Earth,” Franklin said. 

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Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub spoke at the service, thanking Dye for his dedication to serve “so that others may live,” the motto for search-and-rescue volunteers. 

“The commitment is real and the risks are high for the people who volunteer their time to provide this vital service to our community,” Ayub said. “Jef Dye was one of those people who had the desire to serve his community and to save the the lives of strangers. He was an angel among us.” 

The sheriff also read a statement from Dye’s mother, Linda Dye, thanking first responders and law enforcement officers for the sacrifices they make each day and the respect they showed her son when he died. 

“To each of you who were on the mountain that day, who stood beside Jef and offered him complete respect, dignity and care we offer our utmost gratitude,” Ayub said in reading her statement. 

Other family members and friends shared stories, read poems and passages from books. 

Stepson Andrew Kent talked about Dye’s willingness to help, no matter what. Dye recently helped Kent look at a condo by checking the water heater, the carpeting and googling the closest grocery store. 

Loved ones said Dye had a penchant for checking on that, since his days growing up outside Fillmore where the nearest grocery store was a distance away. 

Kent described himself as Dye’s No. 1 critic and shared how he hoped his stepfather would be the kind who wore a leather jacket and drove a motorcycle.

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“Instead, I got a receding hairline and a fanny pack,” Kent said.

Although Dye and Kent had different views about religion, politics and public policy, they bonded over the outdoors, and rock climbing was their activity.

“Our love of the outdoors was where our interests overlapped,” the stepson said, adding that the rock walls got higher as he continued with his search-and-rescue training. 

Brother-in-law Allen Ausec said he’d miss Dye, a coffee lover, and looked forward to the day they could share a cup again. 

“I only hope they have something better than Folgers,” Ausec said. 

A charitable foundation is being set up in Dye’s name to fund college scholarships. Checks can be made payable and sent to: VCDSA FBO Jef Dye, c/o Ventura County Credit Union, 6026 Telephone Road, Ventura, CA 93003.