Earl Jay Trosper

Earl Jay Trosper, 76, passed away Thursday, December 4, 2025 in Amarillo. The family will receive friends from 2:00 to 4:00 P.M. on Sunday, December 7, 2025 at Brooks Chapel, 1702 5th Avenue, Canyon.

Jay was born on October 21, 1949, in Perryton, Texas to E.J. and Elsie (Simpson) Trosper. He grew up in Booker, Texas and it was a place he loved. He started working at six years old shining shoes in his uncle’s barber shop on Saturdays and he never stopped. He mowed yards and sold greeting cards until he was old enough to set out on wheat harvest with his dad in the summers. Jay was an excellent athlete earning all-district honors in football and basketball and still holds track records at Booker High School today.

After graduating from Booker High School in 1968, he attended West Texas State University in Canyon where he majored in Physical Education. He received his degree and was a certified teacher, but it was during college that his lifelong career of sports officiating began. Jay refereed basketball, but his real love was baseball. He umpired at every level from little league to semi-professional leagues for 56 years. He turned what he loved into a career, and he was good at it.

His greatest joys were his grandkids who called him Pops. He spent countless hours attending their sporting events, taking them fishing, and enjoying the things they loved. Jay liked camping and fishing and being in the mountains. He lived life to the fullest and enjoyed the journey.

Jay is preceded in death by his parents and a brother, Marvin.

Survivors include his daughter, Sarah McBride and husband, Ryan and grandchildren, Sawyer and Remi of Canyon; son, Blair Trosper of Indianapolis; and a special niece, Tuesdi Helbig and husband, Shawn of Bowling Green, Kentucky.

The family suggests memorials be made to Texas Panhandle Youth Sports Foundation, PO Box 20559, Amarillo, TX 79114.