Dan Whistler (FDR-125) is the President of Jay Chapel. With over 40 years experience in funeral service, Dan has been at Jay Chapel since 1970. A 1959 graduate of Hanford High School in Hanford, CA, he attended College of the Sequoias in Visalia, CA and graduated from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1963. Dan served in the U.S. Army Medical Corps from 1963 to 1966, returning to California to continue a career in funeral service.
Married to Virginia, the daughter of Robert and Priscilla Jay, she has served as the Secretary/Treasurer for Jay Chapel for 30 years. They have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. Dan enjoys family activities, traveling and anything related to aviation. Dan has been involved with flying for over 30 years as a commercial pilot and flight instructor.
His civic and community activities include being a past President of the Madera Kiwanis Club in 1979-80, a former Board of Director and President of the Hospice of Madera County, a former member and chairman of the Madera Municipal Airport Advisory Commission, a former member of the Madera County Airport Land Use Commission and served on the Board of Directors of the California Funeral Directors Association.
It is very rare for a business to survive two or three generations, Jay Chapel is now in the fifth generation. Dan and Virginia have worked together for over 30 years to continue a family tradition of service.
"It has been an honor to provide the special help to families during their time of loss of a loved one. Our ability to care for the deceased and their family members is of utmost importance."

Wayne A. Gomes (FDR-171) is our Manager for Jay Chapel. Wayne has been a funeral director for over a quarter of a century in the Central Valley. A native of Madera, Wayne is a lifelong resident of the Fresno and Madera area. He is a graduate of California State University Fresno, and a veteran of the California Air National Guard. Wayne began his career in the funeral profession with the William Whitehurst Funeral Home group based in Fresno where he was in management as general manager of The Whitehurst Sullivan Burns & Blair Chapel for many years and later with the Loewen Group whom the Whitehurst family sold their firms to. Wayne has been affiliated with Jay Chapel since 2000. Wayne is a member of numerous Centeral Valley groups including the Fresno County Cabrillo Club #10, where he is a Board Member and a past District Governor, and was the Newsletter Editor for the local Club for many years. He is also a member of the Cal Iota Alumni Association of the SAE Fraternity,  the Knights of Columbus, St. Anthony of Padua Parish, the Catholic Professional and Business Breakfast Club of the Diocese of Fresno and served as  it's Ambassador for St. Anthony of Padua Parish, the C.P.D.E.S. Hall of Fresno, the Fresno Basque Club, the Serra Club of Fresno where he  served as  Vice-President for Vocations, the S.E.S. of Kerman, I.D.E.S., and U.P.E.C. organizations of Fresno.  He is a charter member of The Madera S.E.S. Council and is it's first Vice-President.   He is also a  Board Member of the Central Valley Funeral Directors Association, and currently serves as it's  Immediate Past-President, a past member of the associates of Childrens Hospital of Central California and the Young Mens Group of St. Agnes Medical Center. Wayne has been a long time member of the Board of Directors of his homeowners association, most recently serving a two-year term as President. He is also a member of the Italian Catholic Federation I.C.F., a third generation of his family to be a member.  In The C.S.U.F. Alumni Association he has served on the programs committee in past years. 
Wayne is very well known among Fresno families for the assistance he has given them over the years in his career of caring. He is a very familiar face with the Greek Community of St. George Greek Orthodox Church and at the St. Paul Armenian Church, both of Fresno. Over the years Wayne was entrusted with the directing of the funerals of the clergy and religious of the Diocese of Fresno. Wayne is also a member of the Bishop John Steinbock's Inner Circle Group.  He has also served on committee's for Diocesan events.  In an ecumenical spirit he assists Holy Trinity Episcopal Church of Madera on Sunday mornings who currently uses the Jay Chapel for it's Eucharistic Services while they search for a Church Facility following the loss of their historic church building.  "Losing a loved one is a stressful  and numbing experience for every family. "It is my goal to assist families in planning a beautiful and memorable tribute that reflects the life that was lived."

Robert E. "Bob" Gallegos was born and raised in Taos County, New Mexico. He is a United States Army veteran who served with the 77th Special Forces Unit, The 525 Military Intelligence Group, 18th Airborne Corp, and the Secretariat of Joint Staff in the United States European Command in Paris, France. Bob attended the University of California, Los Angeles where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree and a Masters of Science degree in Industrial-Labor Relations. Bob is bi-literate in Espanol/ Spanish. He has been married to Jan Dunham Gallegos since April 23, 1960. They have three grown children, one son and two daughters, as well as eight grandchildren, seven grandsons and one granddaughter. Bob spent 40 years as a Sr. V.P. in credit insurance sales and administration with Pacific Fidelity Life (Transamerica Companies) and Central States Health & Life Company of Omaha. He has been a Pre-Need Funeral Counselor since September 1997. Bob is a member of St. Anthony of Padua Church in Fresno. "Providing our families with pre-need funeral counselor services is very gratifying. Pre-need arrangement assistance relieves our families of unnecessary concern and emotional stress at the time of need."

Les Riffel (FDR-1295) is a long-term employee, starting with Jay Chapel in April of 1973. He is dedicated to serving families in their time of need. Les graduated from Los Angeles College of Mortuary Science with honors in 1972 and received a degree in Mortuary Science. He also graduated from Fresno Pacific University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration in 1971. Les achieved his California Funeral Directors license in 1998. Les is an active member of Cornerstone Community Church in Chowchilla. He is married to Esther and they have two adult children, Lisa and Brian and a granddaughter, Taylor. Les enjoys traveling, gardening, landscaping and lawn care.

Mark A. Peruch (FDR-1202) has been affiliated with Jay Chapel for 24 years as an Embalmer and Funeral Director. He is a graduate of Cypress College of Mortuary Science and the recipient of the Hilgenfeld Award for Funeral Directing Excellence. In addition to being licensed with the State of California, he also has taken and successfully passed the National Boards which allows practice in approximately 40 other states. He currently is serving as the V.P. of the Central Valley Funeral Directors Association. Mark is an active member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Later-Day Saints. He is married to Janet Brosi of Madera and has six children, two of which are serving as missionaries in Taipei, Taiwan and Rapid City, South Dakota. Mark is active in the community by serving in the Madera National Little League as Coach and Manager for 12 years as well as serving in various positions in the Boy Scouts of America program. In his spare time, Mark owns and operates Accent Monuments in Madera and also is an Almond Grower with membership in Blue Diamond. "Every person deals with grief differently, it is my privilege to help facilitate and organize a service for a family that will help lead them from grief and distress to peace and acceptance."

Cyndi S. Farr has just joined the Jay Chapel team coming from the Madera County Arts Council.  She has lived in the MaderaCounty area since 1989 and currently lives in Fresno.   Cyndi belongs to several community organizations such as the P.E.O. and the Quilting Guild and is a member of St. Joachim Catholic Church in Madera.  Cyndi graduated from Reedley Community College in May 2009 with her AS degree in Accounting..  She loves to go fishing listen to books on tape and quilt.  Cyndi has two grown daughters, Jessica and Patricia.  Jessica is a 5^th grade teacher in Chowchilla and Patricia is serving her country in the U.S. Navy.  These two girls are her pride and joy.  "It makes me feel good knowing that the work I do behind the scenes here at Jay Chapel, will help a family during their difficult time."

Elizabeth "Liz" Dunn is a fifth generation family member at Jay Chapel. She started working here in September of 1991. Liz graduated in 1983 from Madera High School and has attended two years of college at Kings River Community College. She is married to her high school sweetheart, James and they have two children, Phillip who is 20 and Sarah who is 17. Liz is an award winning Tole Painter and has decorated friends' homes with her work. "I remember growing up listening to my grandfather, Robert Jay, tell stories of compassion and history that is Jay Chapel and I knew I wanted to carry on that tradition. I am also proud of the fact that we are still a family owned funeral home and we can still give that personal care that I feel you can only get from a family owned business. I feel privileged carrying on that tradition."

Tara Dore has been working for Jay Chapel since January 2001 as the Bookkeeper and Data Base Specialist. Tara is also responsible for maintaining the remarkable website Jay Chapel has developed for the families we serve.