Jed O’Leary lived his entire life at a non-stop pace.

Whether it was flying planes, scuba diving, biking or sharing his passion of music, he invested his time in many people.

Dr. James “Jed” O’Leary, a graduate of Wayne State College and adjunct music professor, died March 13 as a result of injuries sustained in a motor vehicle collision three days earlier in Omaha.

The 43-year-old O’Leary taught music at Fremont Public Schools and was an aviation instructor at Fremont Municipal Airport. He was returning to his Elkhorn-area home on a Tuesday evening after giving a flying lesson in Fremont. According to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department, 63-year-old Richard Sake was traveling westbound on Dodge when his vehicle left the roadway, crossed the median and entered into oncoming eastbound traffic.

Sake collided with O’Leary, who later died at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

O’Leary graduated from Wayne High School in 1989 and earned his bachelor of fine arts education in music and psychology from Wayne State College in 1994.

After teaching in Wisner, Ponca and Fremont middle school, he went on to earn his master of music degree in woodwind performance in 2001 from the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL) and his doctor of musical arts (DMA) from Boston University in 2010.

O’Leary’s parents were both active instructors at Wayne State. Jed’s father, Jay O’Leary, taught music for 44 years at Wayne. Both father and son were woodwinds instructors. His mother, Jane O’Leary, taught adjunct and music off-and-on for a number of years, as well as teaching in the school of education and counseling.

His passions were learning about technology, running, flying his Cessna 172 airplane and swimming. O’Leary was a certified scuba diver and also participated several times in the Bike Ride Across Nebraska (BRAN). He was also a pilot and Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) at Fremont Aviation. Jed was on a streak of eight years of daily exercise without missing one day.

“Jed enjoyed every bit about life. He was never negative and never talked bad about another individual at all. He was always joking around, such a fun prankster,” David Bohnert, Director of bands at WSC, said. “Hearing the news puts things in perspective. Sometimes, I think we take life too seriously.”

Besides flying planes, playing in bands and teaching students, O’Leary was most prominently known for the love he had for his family.

He loved to teach his older son, Jay, how to play the recorder, piano, trombone and cello. He also enjoyed going to Denver Bronco games with Jay and was teaching him how to play golf and chess. Jed’s younger son, Ethan, enjoyed building LEGO projects with his dad and going for fun rides in their old 1992 Ford Ranger truck.

Jed loved spending time with his family, including taking Disney Cruises and sporadic trips to a family home in Pueblo, Colo.

“Even though he had only 10 years with Jay and six with Ethan, he really seemed to cram in more. He experienced a lot with his sons and was able to have significant impact in their lives,” Bohnert said.

The Wayne State Foundation is starting a scholarship endowment in Jed O’Leary’s name. The foundation is accepting donations. This will be an annual scholarship and will be a tribute to Jed’s legacy.

The family asked that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be made to the O’Leary Family (Sarah O’Leary, if not donating by electronic method on youcaring.com) that will be used to defray funeral expenses, help expand the boys’ college funds and, in addition to future designations yet to be determined, to music-related causes.

“At the funeral, the church seated 700 and there was overflow,” Bohnert said. “Jed, especially in the music world, just seemed like he knew everybody. He will be greatly missed by a lot of people.”